Visiting Filmmakers Series presents: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry with Hasan Elahi

Wednesday, November 14, 2012 6:30 PM EST
Johnson Center, Cinema

Sponsored by the English Department, The Visiting Filmmakers Series, and the Film & Media Studies Program at George Mason University, this event is free and open to the public.

Ai Weiwei is China's most famous international artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, Ai expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention.

The documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is the inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. First-time director Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai while working as a journalist in China. Her detailed portrait provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.

Ai Weiwei describes his work this way: "As an artist, I value other artists’ efforts to challenge the definition of beauty, goodness, and the will of the times. These roles cannot be separated. Maybe I’m just an undercover artist in the disguise of a dissident; I couldn’t care less about the implications."

The screening of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry and discussion at George Mason University coincides with an exhibition of the artist's work, Ai Weiwei: According to What?, at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington DC, which opens 7 October and runs through February 2013. 

This event is co-sponsored by the Global Affairs Program and the Honors College.