Les Pinceaux rouges 文革宣傳畫 [WenGe XuanChuan Hua]

The documentary Red Art sets out to reveal the trends and features of artworks during the Cultural Revolution through a rich collection of propaganda posters and personal stories. The filmmaker interviewed former painters and Red Guards as well as contemporary art researchers and collectors both in China and UK in order to understand the rise, development, and influences of these artworks.The film shows how, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, the propaganda posters were made to propagate violence as part of the revolution and Mao the iconic figure. Later, painters adopted more and more realistic art skills into their works that brought about changes to the representations of the revolution. By reviewing propaganda posters in a historical context, the documentary film sheds light on the aesthetics of the totalitarian regime; it also introduces alternative perspectives in understanding the interactions between visual arts and the Cultural Revolution.