Human Flow
MIA Exhibition Series – presented by DFI
Ai Weiwei / Feature Documentary / Iraq, Germany, Mexico, Turkey, Jordan, United States of America, Palestine, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, France, Greece, Italy / 2017 / Colour
In English
Interests: Documentary
Rated: Parental guidance is advised for viewers under the age of 13. Individuals under the age of 13 are not admitted into cinemas unless accompanied by an individual aged 18 or older.
Screenings
Synopsis
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 compelling 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?
About the Director
Ai Weiwei is renowned for making strong aesthetic statements that resonate with timely phenomena across today’s geopolitical world. From architecture to installations, social media to documentaries, Ai uses a wide range of mediums as expressions of new ways for his audiences to examine society and its values. Recent exhibitions include 'Ai Weiwei: Trace at Hirshhorn' at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C., 'Maybe, Maybe Not' at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, 'Law of the Journey' at the National Gallery in Prague, 'Ai Weiwei. Libero at Palazzo Strozzi' in Florence, '#SafePassage' at Foam in Amsterdam, 'Translocation - transformation' at 21er Haus in Vienna, and 'Ai Weiwei' at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Ai is the current Einstein Visiting Professor at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), and he is the recipient of the 2015 Ambassador of Conscience Award from Amnesty International and the 2012 Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent from the Human Rights Foundation.
Credits
- Director
- Ai Weiwei
- Producer
- Ai Weiwei, Chin-Chin Yap, Heino Deckert
- Editor
- Niels Pagh Andersen