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Documentary director Joris Ivens was the first Westerner, after decades of isolation, to be allowed to present China to the outside world. However, Chinese government had taken precautions to ensure that the projected image of China was a positive one. Ivens captured the first footage of Mao Zedong, and made several films about China, notably a twelve-hour tribute to Mao's Cultural Revolution. This film was discarded as propaganda by some in the West and China itself called it a "catastrophe" shortly after. An Old Friend of the Chinese People attempts to understand why Ivens never reconsidered his positive coverage. The way in which he worked, the particular concessions that he made and was forced to make are all revealed in this film thanks to interviews of Ivens' former associates and archive footage.

Netherlands - 2008 - 55 mn - Betacam Digital • 16/9 • PAL - Colour and B&W

Director René Seegers Writer René Seegers Camera Mark De Blok Sound Zhang Yong Editing Willem Hoogenboom, Eddy Zoutendijk

Production Lowland Services bv, Jacob Obrechtplein 2, 1071 KS Amsterdam, Pays-Bas Tél : +31 20 670 1200 E-mail : lowlandbv@cs.com Co-Production VPRO

Sales René Seegers Lowland Holding BV, René Seegers, P.O Scheldestraat 95/2, 2000 Anvers, Belgique Tél : +32 3 283 5768 E-mail : lowlandbv