AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY -- Alison Klayman Interview

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Intro and Outro

Andrea Chase takes you Behind the Scenes of AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY with filmmaker Alison Klayman. AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY is her documentary about the eponymous mainland Chinese artist and activist, known for his artwork’s highly conceptual, not to mention confrontational, nature. In the name of art, he has smashed Han dynasty pottery and taken pictures of a raised finger in front of Beijing’s Forbidden City. Ai was one of the designers of the famous Bird’s Nest stadium built for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, but he went on to denounce the Chinese government’s actions around the games and the country’s preparations for them. He also ran into trouble for his blog, in which he spoke out against injustices, and which was subsequently shut down by the government. Undeterred, he got around this by using his Twitter account to continue his criticisms, and to document his own run-ins with the authorities, including a beating from local police that led to his need for brain surgery. Klayman, who is fluent in Mandarin, spent two years with the artist, filming his private life in China, as well as the opening of his art exhibits overseas. Klayman spoke with me by cell-phone from her home in New York.

Andrea Chase has taken you Behind the Scenes of AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY with filmmaker Alison Klayman.