Ai Weiwei

From 2008 to 2010, Beijing-based journalist and filmmaker Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to internationally renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei. Klayman documented Ai's artistic process in preparation for major museum exhibitions and his increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government.

After 81 days of solitary detention world famous Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is put under house arrest. He suffers from sleeping disorder and memory loss, 18 cameras are monitoring his studio and home, police agents follow his every move, and heavy restrictions from the Kafkaesque Chinese authorities weigh him down. Journalists, the art world and his family all want a piece of him and on top of that he is hit with a gigantic lawsuit from the Chinese government, which he soon names ‘The Fake Case’. Ai Weiwei is shaken, but during the year on probation he steadily finds new ways to provoke and challenge the mighty powers of the Chinese authorities in his fight for human rights. Ai Weiwei strongly believes that China is ready for change. And he will do everything to make it happen.

Demystifies the predominant methods of persuasion that have been employed by those seeking power, analyzing the present day and contextualizing it by looking back at periods when propaganda defined nations and kept populations in check.

While under house arrest in Beijing, Ai Weiwei transforms former island prison Alcatraz into socially engaged art that inspires thousands to empathise with prisoners.

Art world sensation Ai Weiwei credits him with launching his international career. Renowned pianist Lang Lang describes him as a mentor to Chinese artists. Chinese art curator Victoria Lu says his influence has been felt around the world. When Swiss businessman Uli Sigg first went to China, art was far from his mind. But once he began to seek out contemporary artists, it changed his life, theirs, and the international art scene for generations to come. Directed by art historian and scholar Michael Schindhelm (Bird’s Nest), THE CHINESE LIVES OF ULI SIGG is a history of China’s opening to the West through the eyes of Sigg and the dazzling array of contemporary Chinese artists he championed. Luminaries including Ai Weiwei, Cao Chong’en, Cao Fei, Gang Lijun, Feng Mengbo, Shao Fan, Wang Guangyi and Zeng Fanzhi are interviewed along with curators, diplomats, architects and business colleagues in this colorful documentary survey of contemporary Chinese art.

Featuring interviews with Hirokazu Kore-eda, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wang Bing, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and Jia Zhangke, this documentary portrait provides a thorough perspective on the landmark New Taiwanese Cinema. An essential document of one of 20th century cinema’s most significant chapters.