Caught up the fervor of the Chinese Communist Revolution, she abandoned her plans to study at university and took a job at the Gansu Daily newspaper.
Her husband, fellow journalist Wang Jingchao, wrote several critical essays at the height of the Hundred Flowers Campaign.
After receiving a commission from the Kunsten Festival des Arts, Wang decided to record He's story, resulting in a 50- and then a 130-minute film.
After the Festival, Wang went back and conducted an additional interview, bringing the film to its final three-hour running time.
The director employed an unusually stripped-down style, relying mainly a single camera set-up[1] with only the occasional cut or dissolve.