Submitted by John Westaway
No Boundaries Film Club is pleased to present renowned Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei’s powerful new documentary film, Human Flow at the Gem Theatre Sunday, Feb. 11 at 4:30 p.m.
Ai Weiwei now resides in Berlin after suffering persecution at the hands of the Chinese government for years. In this film, he examines the worldwide refugee crisis which has now displaced 65 million people – more than at the end of World War Two. Ai Weiwei travels to 40 refugee camps in 23 countries over a period of two years to chronicle the plight of these people.
He meets and talks to many ordinary people who have been forced into extraordinarily harsh situations. With his many camera crews (including five special drone cameras) he has created a visually stunning and compelling work of art of the landscape of human suffering and the scale of that suffering is staggering to comprehend. This is definitely a film to be seen on the big screen.
However, Ai Weiwei’s intent is not to have us dwell on the suffering of these “unfortunate others” but to have us see their humanity and how very similar they are to us.
In his own words (from a recent article in The Guardian) “establishing the understanding that we all belong to one humanity is the vessential step for how we might continue to coexist on this sphere we call Earth. I know what it feels like to be a refugee and to experience the dehumanisation that comes with displacement from home and country.
“There are many borders to dismantle, but the most important are the ones within our own hearts and minds — these are the borders that are dividing humanity from itself.”