Watch The Path to Freedom online

The Path to Freedom documents the life story of Tia Zhang, a ballerina who came of age in Beijing during the reign of Mao Zedong. In her own words, she describes the harrowing tale of a journey that catapulted her, at the age of ten, from a world of innocence to one of fear. In the years that followed, she faced many hardships and adversities, but never gave up on her struggle for survival, love and happiness. Her compelling story of grit and sheer determination inspired the book and the film Dancing Through the Shadow. The synopsis of the book is detailed below.

Dancing Through the Shadow is the riveting true story of a young woman, Tia (Tiejun) Zhang. Tia grew up in China during the brutal reign of Mao Zedong. At an early age, her world was shattered when Communist soldiers surrounded her home and her father was arrested. Banished and homeless, her family was left destitute and had to struggle to survive. Despite that, Tia found the courage to face her life’s challenges and rose up to become an acclaimed ballerina. At the onset of the Cultural Revolution, she faced the wrath of the Red Guards. Shortly after, she was sent to a labour camp, where she felt she had been left to die. Through many twists and turns, we follow her journey and witness the force of her resilience and unbending will: a will that was challenged beyond her worst nightmare when she was pushed to agree to an arranged marriage. That became the fight of her life when she met and fell in love with a young man whom her mother forbade her to see.