Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case

Moving...absorbing...the world’s press turns off their cameras, but it is here that Andreas Johnsen’s film begins...fascinating.
-- Mark Adams, Screen Daily

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Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case

In April 2011, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, named the world’s most powerful artist by Art Review Magazine, is kidnapped by the Chinese authorities and detained at a secret location. Eighty-one days later he is released, but put under house arrest. The man we know as an unstoppable fighter for freedom of speech is merely a shadow of himself. He suffers from a sleeping disorder and memory loss. Eighteen cameras are monitoring his studio and home. Police agents follow his every move, and heavy restrictions from the Kafkaesque Chinese authorities weigh him down. Journalists, the art world and his family all want a piece of him. On top of it all he is hit with a gigantic lawsuit from the Chinese government, which he soon names ‘The Fake Case’ in reference to the obvious false reasons behind the accusations. Ai Weiwei is brought to his knees but he is surely not ready to lie down and give up his fight for basic human rights. He spends time with his young son, talks about the dark past with his mother and secretly creates a stunning piece of art depicting his time in detention. This work, S.A.C.R.E.D., will have its US premiere at the Brooklyn Museum on April 18. In response to the lawsuit, ordinary Chinese citizens spontaneously send him money with personal notes about keeping up the fight. Ai Weiwei’s firm belief that China is about to change is refueled, and the headstrong artist finds new energy to provoke the mighty Chinese powers. As always, Ai Weiwei blends his life and art with politics.

Special AI WEIWEI: THE FAKE CASE Screenings in the Royal

-Friday 6/6 7:40PM (SOLD OUT): Presented by the L.A. World Affairs Council

-Saturday 6/7 7:40PM: Presented by UC Irvine School of Law with special introduction by David Kaye, UC Irvine law professor specializing in international human rights

Special AI WEIWEI: THE FAKE CASE Screenings in the Pasadena Playhouse:

-Friday 6/6 7:40PM: Presented by art collective The Haggus Society and introduced by co-director and artist Terri Lloyd

-Saturday 6/7 7:40PM: Presented by Chris Csikszentmihalyi, director of The RootIO Project and a transgressive artist, former director of MIT Center for Civic Media & Computing Culture Group

“Picks up where Alison Klayman’s Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry left off, serving as not just an update, but an EVEN MORE GALVANIZING call for reform. Ai’s voice carries louder than ever before.” – Peter Debruge, Variety

“INTIMATE. TOPICAL.” – Neil Young, Hollywood Reporter
Not Rated
Genre
Documentary
Web Site
http://www.aiweiwe…
Runtime
89
Language
Mandarin, English
Director
Andreas Johnsen
Cast
Ai Weiwei, Gao Ying, Wang Fen
FEATURED REVIEW
A.O. Scott New York Times

Part of the reason the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei — the subject of a current exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum and of the Danish filmmaker Andreas Johnsen’s new documentary, “The Fake Case” — is such an intriguing figure is that his recent career feels like the latest battle in the very old war ...

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