A Day to Remember

With a camera and one simple question, the Chinese filmmaker Liu Wei heads for the University of Beijing and Tiananmen Square. "Do you know what day it is today?" he asks passers-by, mainly students and young people. "June 4th, 2005," most people answer correctly, but many of them already guess where the conversation is leading. This is the 16th anniversary of the student uprising at Tiananmen Square, which was bloodily quashed by the government. As Liu continues his questioning, most people say they know nothing about it and quickly go on their way, or look blankly into the camera. "I don't want to talk about it," "Turn the camera off" and "I don't know" are the most common answers, so Liu convincingly demonstrates that the revolt is still a taboo subject in China. The blood that flowed back then has dried up and is forgotten, and has been replaced only by silence. Many young people are unaware of the fact that the subject was a banned topic of conversation for years, and that the revolt was covered up by the authorities. Liu breaks the silence by showing their denial.