Sonnets and Cinema: Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
A gripping portrait of China's most acclaimed and controversial artist and activist.
Film/ Theater
Because of his art world fame and persistent criticism of the Chinese government, Ai Weiwei (Alison Klayman, 2012) has become one of the world’s most renowned artists and one of China’s most notorious. In the documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, filmmaker Alison Klayman follows the artist as he works to install projects in Munich and London while dealing with harassment, violence, and eventually imprisonment in China. Winner of a Special Jury Prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Klayman captures intimate and astounding footage of Ai Weiwei’s mistreatment at the hands of his government as well as his efforts to fight against it. In English and Mandarin with English subtitles. (91 mins., DCP)
Hanif Abdurraqib is a Columbus poet and author whose books include The Crown Ain’t Worth Much (2016), A Little Devil in America: In Praise of Black Performance (2021), and There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension (2024). Scott Woods is a Columbus writer, activist, and founder of the Streetlight Guild.
Introduced with readings by Hanif Abdurraqib and Scott Woods