PRESENTS AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY A FILM BY ALISON KLAYMAN FESTIVALS: 2012 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2012 MIAMI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2012 INTERNATIONALE FILMFESTPIELE BERLIN 2012 TRUE/FALSE FILM FESTIVAL 2012 FULL FRAME DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2012 HUMAN RIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2012 SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2012 HOT DOCS FILM FESTIVAL 2012 INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2012 DOXA DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL USA / 2012 / 91 MIN. / COLOR DISTRIBUTION CONTACT: NY PRESS CONTACT: LA PRESS CONTACT: LAUREN SCHWARTZ/KIM BARRETT SUSAN NORGET/CHARLIE OLSKY FREDELL POGODIN/JONATHAN SMITH SUNDANCE SELECTS SUSAN NORGET FILM PROMOTION FREDELL POGODIN & ASSOCIATES PUBLICITY/MARKETING 198 Sixth Ave. #1 7223 Beverly Boulevard #202 11 Penn Plaza, 18th Floor New York, NY 10013 Los Angeles, CA 90036 New York, NY 10001 T: 212.431.0090 (323) 931-7300 T: 646.273.7214 [email protected] [email protected] F: 646.273.7250 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.ifcfilms.com For images please visit our extranet: www.ifcfilmsextranet.com (login: ifcguest01, password: kubrick; select “AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY” from the drop-down bar) SYNOPSIS Named by ArtReview as the most powerful artist in the world, Ai Weiwei is China's most celebrated contemporary artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. In April 2011, when Ai disappeared into police custody for three months he quickly became China’s most famous missing person, having first risen to international prominence in 2008 after helping design Beijing’s iconic Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium-and then publicly denouncing the Games as party propaganda. Since then, Ai Weiwei’s critiques of China’s repressive regime have ranged from playful photographs of his raised middle finger in front of Tiananmen Square to searing memorials to the more than 5,000 schoolchildren who died in shoddy government construction in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Against a backdrop of strict censorship, Ai has become a kind of Internet champion, using his blog and constant -and frequently witty-use of Twitter to organize, inform and inspire his followers, becoming an underground hero to millions of Chinese citizens. First-time director Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to the charismatic artist, as well as his family and others close to him, while working as a journalist in Beijing. In the years she filmed, government authorities shut down Ai’s blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention-while Time magazine named him a runner-up for 2011’s Person of the Year. Her compelling documentary portrait is the inside story of a passionate dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT BY ALISON KLAYMAN The reason I wanted to make a film about Ai Weiwei was because I wanted to make a movie about a creative and principled artist, willing to make calculated risks to push society to grapple with its own shortcomings. He is a charismatic figure who in his personal dynamism embodies the multitude of experiences and realities in China, a sign of how China has changed and how there is more change to come. Which is why a lot went through my mind last April when, after over two years of filming and several months into the edit, Weiwei disappeared into police custody without any formal charges or indication when he would be released. For weeks I stayed up late into the night in New York, so that I could be awake as morning came to Beijing. Media requests were constant. I monitored every development, keeping Skype signed on near my bed when I slept, and was rarely far from a Twitter feed. Ai’s 81-day detention amplified his story symbolically and in the press. His release made news around the world, and people who may never have consciously heard his name suddenly became familiar with his face and his cause. Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry brings the man and his history into the focus. I started filming Weiwei in 2008, just after his work on the Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium and his subsequent denunciation of the Games as Party propaganda made him an international figure for the first time. The years since have been even more transformational. Having never used a computer before 2005, Weiwei began a blog remarkable for its frank and politically incendiary opinions. The government shut his blog down in 2009, but by then, he had already established himself as an online icon—a role he continues to play through Twitter. That same year, Weiwei opened his largest solo museum exhibition in Munich, and, after a lifetime of vowing he didn’t want children, he also became a father. Of course, there was his arrest in 2011 to cap everything off. These years are a pinnacle for a man who already experienced several significant epochs in his life. I want to give people a chance to spend time with Weiwei, listen to his voice and his opinions, see his flaws, and experience the conditions of his life. The idea is to allow audiences to evaluate Weiwei’s choices and, I hope, to be inspired by his courage and humanity. But Never Sorry is not just about Weiwei, or China. I hope the film will move audiences to interrogate themselves. What is my vision for a better future? What would I risk to express myself? The most powerful impact this film can have is inspiring a new crop of outspoken artists, activists and citizens, with a strong vision for improving the future in their respective societies. INTERVIEW WITH AI WEIWEI January 7, 2012 Q: What would you like people to do after seeing the film? Ai Weiwei: I think (by seeing the film) the audience will first have some knowledge about who I am and what kind of issues I am always concerned about as an artist. I think they should really think that freedom of expression is very valuable, and they should treasure this right. In many areas and locations around the world, you can completely lose your freedom simply because you are asking for freedom. You even never have a chance to speak out. In many developed societies people take freedom of expression for granted, but at the same time it would be a crime to be ignorant of the efforts that other people make for this right. Humans share all values as a common property. You cannot pretend you don’t know it, and you can’t say it has nothing to do with me. That would only make you as a very selfish person and very shortsighted. What made me a recognizable figure is only because I do have an issue, and also because I successfully use the Internet, to a degree. I can communicate more freely through the Internet and media to carry out the message, so this is very important- you have the message and you have a way to carry it out. I hope people watching this they also can realize that, I think today we are living in a very different world and today we do have new possibilities, and we can make the world into a better place for everybody. Q: How does the documentary make China look? Ai Weiwei: The documentary is about reality, it’s about the reality that has been existing in this piece of land for decades. China is developing itself, but in certain cases such as the judicial system and freedom of speech, it has hardly developed. It’s still under very strong control. But I think China cannot afford not to change. It takes time, but only when there’s pressure, when there’s a demand for it. We all know humans are not going to change by themselves if there’s no pressure there. Q: What would Chinese audiences think of the film? Ai Weiwei: I don’t think it will ever be seen by the public in mainland China, only a small public will ever see it in China. Only on YouTube or online, which is just a few people, less than 0.1 percent who technically can jump over the Great Firewall and watch it. But still that’s very important, the effort is important only because it’s so difficult. I think it’s good for anybody to see it, the government and officials and police should see it. They should understand…they should face the reality, and to understand what is in the struggle. Otherwise they have no way to evaluate themselves. Because they think all Western people hate China or are trying to overthrow the government, but they don’t really look at each individual case to see what is the intention and how to make it better. I think this film will help make it better. I think this is very important to let people understand the situation. AI WEIWEI: TIMELINE 1957: Born in Beijing to poet Ai Qing and his wife Gao Ying. Ai Qing studied painting in Paris in the 1930s, was a fervent supporter of the nascent Communist movement, and his modernist poetry defined a generation. 1958: Ai Qing falls out of favor with Communist Party and is branded a “Rightest.” Sent into exile, first to Beidahuang, then to far-western Xinjiang Province. 1962: Younger brother Ai Dan is born in Xinjiang. 1966-76: Cultural Revolution. Ai Weiwei and his family suffer as “class enemies” and he is forced to do hard labor alongside his father. Ai Qing worked as a public toilet cleaner, among other jobs. 1976: Ai Qing’s name is restored after Mao’s death, and the family returns to Beijing.