BEIJING SPRING

Los Angeles Times - 12.2021

"Two documentaries distill the struggle of political dissent in China decades apart" - Robert Abele

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The act of protesting in China is not to be entered into lightly considering the consequences: exile, imprisonment and worse. A pair of new documentaries takes us inside two of the more noteworthy, and globally recognized, stands against China’s authoritarian rule — an unsanctioned public art exhibit in 1979 organized by self-taught artists, their experiences fighting for individuality and democracy recounted in “Beijing Spring,” and, 40 years later, the citywide Hong Kong protests that challenged mainland China’s encroachment on the territory’s long-cherished autonomy, the subject of “Revolution of Our Times.”

Hammer to Nail - 12.2021

"BEIJING SPRING" - Christopher Reed

Authoritarian regimes often serve as breeding grounds for serious artistic movements, creative souls inspired by imposed restrictions to rise above them, risk be damned. In Andy Cohen and Gaylen Ross’ new documentary Beijing Spring, the directors examine China in the year 1979, as new leader Deng Xiaoping appeared to be on the verge of opening up the country to a semblance of democracy. As an opening onscreen quote from the great 19th-century philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville reads, “The most perilous moment for a repressive government is when it seeks reform.” Perhaps, but what we witness ends up being more dangerous for the artists, themselves. Whatever Chairman Deng’s original intentions, he was not about to allow actual dissent to last for long.

THE JERUSALEM POST - 04.2021

"Heroic artists shine in ‘Beijing Spring’" - Hannah Brown

You’ve probably heard of the protests and liberalization of the Prague Spring in 1968. A similar but not nearly as well-known movement of Chinese artists and democracy activists took place in the late ‘70s – and is the subject of a fascinating documentary, Beijing Spring, which will be shown as part of the Epos Art Film Festival (www.filmart.co.il). Epos will run from May 1-8 at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, with some screenings at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. 

SPIRALE MAGAZINE - 03.2021

"Beijing Spring, documentaire d'Andy Cohen et Gaylen Ross" - Guylaine Massoutre

À visionner Beijing Spring, le documentaire qui ouvre la 39e édition du FIFA à Montréal, on sait la barre haut placée. Quelle émotion lorsqu’on suit Andy Cohen et Gaylen Ross retraçant l’histoire de la Chine autour du Mur de la Démocratie, où se sont fracassés les idéaux révolutionnaires.

LE DEVOIR - 03.2021

"«Beijing Spring»: Andy Cohen et Gaylen Ross racontent une Chine sans censure" - Caroline Montpetit

Il faut sans doute être dans la peau d’un artiste chinois pour saisir tout le poids du mot « liberté ». Le documentaire Beijing Spring, présenté en ouverture du 39e Festival international du film sur l’art, le 16 mars, en fait la troublante démonstration. Les cinéastes Andy Cohen et Gaylen Ross ont construit leur film autour d’images d’archives inédites, mises à l’abri du gouvernement chinois pendant plus de 40 ans.Ils racontent l’essor, constamment contrarié par les autorités, d’un groupe d’artistes chinois, après la terrible répression de la Révolution culturelle et la mort de Mao Tsé-Toung.

Art Asia Pacific - 03.2021

"Capital Thaw: Beijing Dissidents on film" - Don J. Cohn

The title of Beijing Spring (2021) - Andy Cohen and Gaylen Ross’s heartfelt, candid, and well-crafted documentary - refers to a brief, tumultuous watershed in Chinese history that began with Mao Zedong’s death in September 1976 and ended with the crackdown on Beijing’s Democracy Wall (a public forum of sorts where citizens put up big-character posters critiquing societal issues); the arrest of activist Wei Jingsheng, who racked up 18 years in Chinese prisons; and the shutdown of the avant-garde Stars Art Group’s open-air exhibition in late 1979. 

HEIDI NEWS - 03.2020

"«Beijing Spring», témoignage inédit d’une expérience démocratique" - Sophie Woeldgen

"Fin des années 70 à Pékin. Dans un éphémère espace de liberté, artistes et activistes (dont Wei Jingsheng, Xu Wenli et le jeune Ai Weiwei) se retrouvent autour du Mur de la démocratie, le réalisateur américain Andy Cohen retrace cette histoire inconnue."

M+ STORIES - 03.2020

"The Story of Chi Xiaoning and His Smuggled Camera" - Andy Cohen

This is a story about underground film-making, radical art, and censorship. In 1979, Chi Xiaoning created his Film of Star Group Activities of 1979. It is the only known video documenting the radical activities of the Stars Group, an avant-garde group of artists from China who championed individuality and freedom of expression. The only copy of the footage is in the M+ Collections.

New York Times - 12.2021

"‘Beijing Spring’ Review: The Politics of Aesthetics" - Devika Girish

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​Can art effect real change in the world? To this ever-urgent question, “Beijing Spring” — a new documentary about the titular movement for democratic expression that exploded in the wake of the Cultural Revolution in China — responds with a resounding yes.

J.B Spins - 12.2021

"Beijing Spring: Documenting the Thaw After the Cultural Revolution" - Joe Bendel

For Chinese artists, things could only get better when the Cultural Revolution ended—and they did—to an extent—for a while. During the thaw of the early Deng years, a group of artists emerged that pushed for liberalization in the artistic sphere and more democratic governance. Many of them are now living abroad (for obvious reasons). Andy Cohen and Gaylen Ross chronicle the “Stars Art Group and the related samizdat magazines that revolved around Beijing’s short-lived “Democracy Wall” in Beijing Spring, which opens Friday in New York and Los Angeles.

RADIO FREE ASIA - 04.2021

"专访《北京之春》导演：民主墙、星星美展、首曝光的现场镜头" - Xiaoshan Xue

1978至1981年的“北京之春”是随着中国改革开放应运而生的公民运动，魏京生等民运人士在西单民主墙及民间出版物上，率先呼吁表达自由和民主改革。一群诗人、画家、雕塑家、摄影师也踊跃加入，他们在1979年9月策划了一场未经批准的“星星画会”，被视为中国现代艺术的序曲。由独立电影制作人兼记者安迪·科恩（Andy Cohen）执导的纪录片《北京之春》近日在蒙特利尔国际艺术电影节（LEFIFA）等地放映，以西单民主墙抗争、“星星画会”被禁后的游行抗议为主线，首次公布了摄影师池小宁在现场冒险拍下的镜头片断。请听自由亚洲电台记者薛小山对该片导演科恩的专访。 

LE CULTE - 03.2021

"Beijing Spring : la naissance de l’art dans la censure" - Marius Gellner

À la croisée des chemins entre un cours magistral, une exposition et un film, Beijing Spring nous fait parcourir un pan méconnu et pourtant si riche de l’histoire de l’art en Chine. Présenté actuellement au Festival International du Film sur l’Art (FIFA), ce long-métrage d’Andy Cohen et Gaylen Ross nous tient en haleine, nous éduque et nous émerveille en mêlant images d’archives et témoignages des artistes qui ont élevé leur voix contre la censure à la fin des années 70.

LE TEMPS - 03.2021

"Le film secret du «printemps de Pékin»" - Frederic Koller

En 1979, plaignants, artistes, poètes et activistes donnent vie au «Mur de la démocratie». C’est le premier «printemps de Pékin». Il fut filmé par un réalisateur chinois. Quarante ans plus tard, Andy Cohen lui redonne vie.

UTOPIA3 - 07.2020

Lors de cet entretien, Andy Cohen revient sur ce qui l’a amené à réaliser «Beijing Spring». A travers un film d’archives 16 mm caché aux autorités chinoises pendant plus de trois décennies, il nous fait découvrir l’histoire censurée des « Étoiles », un group d’artistes underground chinois dont les membres, à la mort de Mao Zedong, ont cherché à tout prix à librement s’exprimer et à protester - non sans lourdes conséquences ultérieures.  

WORLD RADIO SWITZERLAND - 03.2020

"Andy Cohen on his film Beijing Spring" - Katt Cullen

Filmmaker Andy Cohen spoke to Katt about his new film Beijing Spring. The film uses never before seen footage hidden from the authorities for 35 years and chronicles China's first democracy movement.