This documentary by the Chinese conceptual artist offers no easy answers,revealing instead a deeply affecting empathy (sensitivity to another's feelings as if they were one's own) for those caught up in a global crisisThe exiled Chinese conceptual artist Ai Weiwei has here created an ambitious, humane and often shocking cine-essay on the subject of migrants and the 21st century migrant condition. With his camera crew, and he travels around the world,and finds a globalised story of desolation and desperation. These are people who are frantic enough to jettison everything in their lives and leave – and who by that token have become enigmatic, opaque, and difficult to interview. It is not just the language barrier. They have indifferent themselves from the cultural context in which they have grown up and have not yet been granted admission to that context in which the privileged interviewer or film-maker exists. The connective tissue of conversation has not been cultivated. It puts a greater onus on imagery,on making pictures effect the work. Related: ‘They’re generally either enemies or victims’: the refugee crisis on screen Continue reading...
Source: guardian.co.uk