Abstract:

"The Mao Years 1949 - 1976 tells the story of how Mao Zedong and his colleagues tried to build a "new China" -- and in the process drew the Chinese people into the largest political experiment in history. The film presents an intimate portrait of a nation that, for much of the period, seemed closed and incomprehensible to the rest of the world. The film reveals never-before-seen images of Mao, Deng Xiaoping and other leaders; cataclysmic events like the Great Leap Forward and the ensuing famine; Mao's colossal and tragic experiment, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution; the historic visit of President Nixon; and culminates in Mao's death in 1976."