Human Flow

Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei employs his celebrity here to call attention to the global refugee crisis in this visually imposing epic documentary. Director Weiwei and his large crew (including a dozen cinematographers) visit 20-plus countries to convey the magnitude of the crisis in terms of both the estimated 65 million men, women, and children fleeing war, famine, and political repression, and the numerous areas affected, from Africa and the Middle East to Asia. While officials are given the opportunity to comment on the extent of the tragedy, the emphasis is on the displaced, who are seen here in numerable scenarios: rescued from boats in the Mediterranean and taken to Italian relocation centers, being placed in Jordanian camps, swimming ashore on Greek islands, and trying to survive in makeshift enclaves in Eastern Europe or on the French coast. The stories they tell are heartbreaking: one man tearfully describes how nearly a third of his family members died along the way. Weiwei interacts with the refugees, commiserating as a displaced person himself, and his artist’s eye is very much apparent in carefully composed and elegantly shot images. Especially notable are sequences of refugees marching in long lines under official supervision, shot from an angle far above in what might be called a divine perspective. Human Flow is arguably too beautiful for its subject, but it effectively conveys the size and urgency of today’s refugee problem. Recommended. (F. Swietek)