MAO, WHEN CHINA SEES RED

In September 2026, China will commemorate the 50^th anniversary of Mao’s death. Half a century on, the founder of the People’s Republic of China remains officially untouchable – his portrait still hanging in Tiananmen Square.

His struggle to build a communist society came at a terrible price: purges, famine, prison labor, repression, and mass executions. In human terms, his rule was one of the deadliest of the 20^th century. How did Mao Zedong impose his vision on hundreds of millions of Chinese? Why did he enjoy such widespread support in the West during his lifetime? And how does his legacy continue to shape China today?

Through archive images and exclusive first-hand accounts of people who lived under Mao – including former Red Guards –, filmmaker Serge de Sampigny chronicles the rise and rule of the “Great Helmsman”, while exploring his legacy in a contemporary China currently rivaling the United States as a global superpower.