Karl Nykwest

A storm that has been continuing to swell over Appalachia for 5 months with no sign of stopping. While journalist and her colleague are on route to continue ongoing interviews with survivors about strange psychological behavior following the storm, she inexplicably wakes up alone in an empty jeep, parked in a clearing, surrounded only by Appalachian wilderness. After realizing the car will not start, she makes the bold decision to find her way back to civilization on foot, despite being lost. With vivid recurring thoughts and visions of personal childhood trauma manifesting around her, she finds herself unable to leave the woods, instead mysteriously returning to the clearing.

“The Revolution They Remember” compiles selected excerpts from interviews of Chinese who recall their experiences of the Cultural Revolution era, 1966-1976, drawing on more than 120 interviews in the oral history projects of the University of Pittsburgh Library and the Dartmouth College Library. The film offers rich visual material, arranging the interviews according to the historical chronology of events, with attention to age, gender, geographic breadth, and social groups. It concludes with reflections of participants and scholars on the era and its legacies today.