Ai Weiwei unveils huge �refugee boat� in Prague

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17th March 2017

An installation at Ai's exhibition.
Source: National Gallery PragueBig Hallliving conditions unbearable for the many refugees on the island.

Last year, Ai ruffled feathers when he recreatedthe arrival

[Chesty P.]

Interesting concept.

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Human Flow Director Ai Weiwei
Ariston Anderson
Oct 13, 2017

Human Flow

World-renowned artist and activist Ai Weiwei makes his feature-length filmmaking debut with Human Flow, an expansive documentary that shines a light on the global refugee crisis. Ai circles the globe to showcase the personal stories behind the sweeping headlines of fallout from war, famine and climate change in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, France, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Palestine, Serbia, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand and Turkey.

Today 65 million people have been forcibly displaced, more people than in the time period following World War II. Ai manages to show both the massive scale of the problem while at the same time putting a human face to the problem, something that news reports are often unable to do. The film is filled with a sense of urgency coupled with hope, revealing the shared human condition that unites us all. We spoke with Ai on how he tackled such a staggering story and how he found hope in the story against all odds.

Human Flow, a Participant Media/AC Films production is in U.S. theaters today via Amazon Studios.

What was most challenging for you making this film?

The topic itself requires a lot of research to get to know what you are talking about. I dropped in from almost ground zero. The story is so complex: in the reality but in the history also. Human history is the history of immigration, from the beginning until probably to the end. As humans, we will never settle. The more intelligent we become, the more motivated we become.

To understand the topic, it still takes time. You have to discover some kind of character in the language, which can illustrate your ideas. And I realize you can only learn it by doing it, to make a film watchable rather than to make a historical type of film, to still have human touch.

How did you get up to speed on a story that is constantly changing?
Was it difficult to find the right filmmaking approach to tell such a story?
How did you find hope in making this film?
Would you like to keep directing films?

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Human Flow Official Trailer [HD] | Amazon Studios

Over 65 million people around the world have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war in the greatest human displacement since World War II. Human Flow, an epic film journey led by the internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, gives a powerful visual expression to this massive human migration.

The documentary elucidates both the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal human impact.

Captured over the course of an eventful year in 23 countries, the film follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretches across the globe in countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, France, Greece, Germany, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, and Turkey.

Human Flow is a witness to its subjects and their desperate search for safety, shelter and justice: from teeming refugee camps to perilous ocean crossings to barbed-wire borders; from dislocation and disillusionment to courage, endurance and adaptation; from the haunting lure of lives left behind to the unknown potential of the future.

Human Flow comes at a crucial time when tolerance, compassion and trust are needed more than ever.

This visceral work of cinema is a testament to the unassailable human spirit and poses one of the questions that will define this century: Will our global society emerge from fear, isolation, and self-interest and choose a path of openness, freedom, and respect for humanity?

Amazon Studios, Participant Media and AC Films present Human Flow, a film directed by Ai Weiwei.

The producers are Ai Weiwei, Chin-chin Yap and Heino Deckert.

Andy Cohen of AC Films with Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann of Participant Media are the executive producers.