Ai Weiwei

#thefakecase
PBS Premiere: Oct. 2, 2015Check the broadcast schedule »

Filmmaker Statement

Ai Weiwei is a man who does not give up even when his life is in danger. He seems to have an uncontrollable urge to resist and a backbone that gets stronger each time somebody tries to break it. He believes so deeply in openness, transparency and in the importance of expressing yourself that it is the equivalent of the need to breathe. You do not truly live if you do not — or cannot — express yourself.

I've had close to unlimited access to film his life, and I believe this is an expression of his acceptance of my method and patience and persistence as well as his will to show the world that he has nothing to hide, whatsoever.

From my very first trip to China back in 2010, I only imposed one rule on myself: to be with Ai Weiwei as much as possible and to film only when he was present, to see what he sees and hear what he hears.

I've had no intention of giving a broad, many-voiced view of China or to let a lot of people express their opinions of Ai Weiwei. I'll let the audience judge for itself by seeing the China that Ai Weiwei sees, the China that he experiences: as a privileged artist, but also as a constantly monitored, restricted and oppressed human being. My ambition was to be as 'pure' as I could in my point of view, sharing the eyes of Ai Weiwei in the way I looked at China.

The film started out as a portrait of an artist, but has evolved to tell a universal story about a man and his struggle, a man on the horns of a tragic dilemma. It has become an epic tale in which Ai Weiwei is a metaphor expressing human existence in a closed, opaque, mind-controlling society.

Andreas Johnsen, Director/Cinematographer