This 1984 documentary explores the subversive political selfies of Tseng Kwong Chi (1950-1990) who, among an intimate circle of artists including Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, and Cindy Sherman, took center stage in the New York art scene during the 1980s. 

As a Hong-Kong born, Paris-trained artist, Chi viewed himself as a citizen of the world and eschewed labeling himself or his art as "Chinese." However, his ironic self-portraits posed in a Mao suit in front of American landmarks found their way to Communist China and were profoundly influential for China's avant-garde, including conceptual artists Song Dong and Zhang Huan, who were exposed to Chi's images through western magazines smuggled into the country. 

Chi's photographs not only satirized relations between the United States and its emerging rival, China, but also broadcasted his freedom of movement, a privilege denied most Chinese artists at the time.