Human Flow trailer
For his debut documentary feature, Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei travelled the globe with 2000 crew members for a whole year, from Afghanistan to the US-Mexico border via Tempelhof airport and Calais, to film the current state of mass migration. Human Flow is a noble, sprawling effort peppered with spectacular aerial drone shots, even if it glosses over many engaging avenues that beg to be probed more thoroughly. Another niggle hits when the director becomes an onscreen participant in moments that might feel unnecessarily self-serving were it not for his affable manner. Nevertheless, Ai eschews maudlin indulgences, never dehumanises migrants and achieves his primary goal: faced with the impossibility of fully encompassing both the scope and intricacies of a complex global crisis, he instead offers an accessible overview that elicits both understanding and empathy.
Human Flow | Directed by Ai Weiwei. Starts November 16
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