Human Flow

Name: Human Flow
Director: Ai Weiwei
Released: 2017

Ai Weiwei 2017

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, following 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.

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Running Time:

140 min.

Spoken Languages:

English

Directors:

Ai Weiwei

Producers:

Ai Weiwei, Chin-Chin Yap, Heino Deckert

Cinematographers:

Ai Weiwei, Konstantinos Koukoulis, Ma Yan Murat Bay, Renaat Lambeets, Johannes Waltermann, Christopher Doyle, Li Dongxu, Xie Zhenwei, Huang Wenhai, Lv Hengzhong, Zhang Zanbo

Production Companies:

Participant Media, AC Films, Amazon Studios

Immigration and Migrat..

Israeli-Palestinian Co..

Middle Eastern Studies

Press

Empire

This is an unflinching record of a cry of anguish that has to be heard and acted upon. Everyone needs to see this.

David Parkinson
Wall Street Journal

This movie, a testament to the power of seeing, provides a long and uncommonly vivid look at a human crisis that’s changing the face of our plane
Chicago Reader

The imagery encourages viewers to adopt a global perspective in considering the subject matter.

Ben Sachs
Detroit News

It does not browbeat or preach, it simply shows, and what it shows is overwhelming.
Boston Globe

The film is all the more powerful for being so calm and unhurried. Ai doesn't castigate or preach. He doesn't have to. The facts, the images, speak for themselves. Instead, he bears witness.
Toronto Star

Ai Weiwei has made something beautiful: Human Flow is neither indulgent nor pedantic, but clear-eyed in its view of the enormity of the crisis too vast for most of us to comprehend.
CineVue

Ai Weiwei might be best known for his sculptures and installations, but with Human Flow he has created a masterpiece that truly captures the humanity at the heart of the global refugee crisis.
The Telegraph

The cumulative power of their looks and gestures – each one a little human-to-human appeal for recognition – weighs like a cannonball on your heart.
The Guardian

An ambitious, humane and often shocking cine-essay on the subject of migrants and the 21st century migrant condition.
The Times

Difficult, but hugely important film-making.

Festival Participation

Venice International Film Festival - 2017
Haifa International Film Festival - 2017

Additional Materials

Distribution Company

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