Over 65 million people around the world
have been forced from their homes to escape famine, climate change and war in
the greatest human displacement since World War II. Human Flow, an epic film
journey led by the internationally renowned artist Ai Weiwei, gives a powerful
visual expression to this massive human migration. The documentary elucidates
both the staggering scale of the refugee crisis and its profoundly personal
human impact. Captured over the course of an eventful year in 23 countries, the
film follows a chain of urgent human stories that stretches across the globe in
countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, France, Greece, Germany, Iraq,
Israel, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, and Turkey. Human Flow is a witness to its
subjects and their desperate search for safety, shelter and justice: from teeming
refugee camps to perilous ocean crossings to barbed-wire borders; from
dislocation and disillusionment to courage, endurance and adaptation; from the
haunting lure of lives left behind to the unknown potential of the future.
Human Flow comes at a crucial time when tolerance, compassion and trust are
needed more than ever. This visceral work of cinema is a testament to the
unassailable human spirit and poses one of the questions that will define this
century: Will our global society emerge from fear, isolation, and self-interest
and choose a path of openness, freedom, and respect for humanity?