The Chinese artist's documentary on the world's flow of refugees has provoked mixed reactions, with some criticizing its visual aesthetic. As the film debuts in Germany, DW looks at other movies that deal with refugees.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Human Flow UG
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12 important films about refugees
Ai Weiwei's documentary covers the global phenomenon of refugee flows, but many other films have previously tackled the issue as well.
Image: 2017 Human Flow UG
40 refugee camps, 23 countries: Human Flow
Ai Weiwei's documentary Human Flow presents the problem in a globalized context. The Chinese artist aims to draw attention to the refugees' plight, and generate compassion for them. His documentary premiered at the Venice Film Festival and is now released in Germany.
Image: 2017 Human Flow UG
Swiss perspective: The Boat is Full
The title of the film The Boat is Full (1980) has become idiomatic. In this movie, Swiss director Markus Imhoof depicted the fate of six people who had fled from the Nazi regime. At the time, films about refugees were typically set in the context of a historical conflict.
Image: picture-alliance/Everett Collection/Libra Films
African conflicts: Hotel Rwanda
Many European films featuring refugees describe the fate of people fleeing to Europe. In comparison, there are way less movies set in Africa, dealing with the causes of flight and migration. In Hotel Rwanda (2004), director Terry George from Northern Ireland focuses on an episode of the Rwandan genocide from 1994.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Tobis Film
Border conflicts: Riverbanks
Two years ago, Greek director Panos Karkanevatos shocked audiences with his film Riverbanks. Here, refugees taking off from Turkey with the aim of reaching Greece have to face several problems at once at the border river Evros. Smugglers exploit their situation, and the region has been mined during earlier conflicts between Turkey and Greece.
Image: Real Fiction
Flight to England: Welcome
The French film Welcome (2009), by director Philippe Lioret, focuses on the fate of an Iraqi-Kurdish boy who wants to cross the Channel to Britain. Another character in the film is a French swimming teacher who supports the boy. It's a moving drama on humanity and friendship.
Image: arsenalfilm.de
The Kaurismäki touch: Le Havre
Like his colleague Philippe Lioret, Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki tells the story of a refugee boy trying to get from France to Britain. In Le Havre (2001), Idrissa from Gabon makes the acquaintance of an older and unsuccessful writer. And like in Welcome, the film depicts how a relation develops between the man and the boy.
Image: Sputnik Oy/Marja-Leena Hukkanen
Another Kaurismäki: The Other Side of Hope
In 2017, the Finnish director moved his audiences once again with a heartwarming film on the same topic. The Other Side of Hope premiered at the Berlinale. The protagonist is a Syrian refugee stranded in Helsinki. In scenes showing an encounter between Khaled and textile merchant Waldemar, the film showcases Kaurismäki's typical bizarre sense of humor.
Image: Sputnik Oy
A comedy: Willkommen bei den Hartmanns
Last year, German director Simon Verhoeven daringly approached the difficult topic with a satirical touch. His comedy turned out to be a hit in the country dealing with a strong influx of refugees. Willkommen bei den Hartmanns (Welcome to the Hartmanns') tells the story of a German family which has welcomed a refugee in their home.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Warner Bros. Ent.
When young and old meet: Nightshapes
Long before the current debates about the refugee crisis emerged, German director Andreas Dresen shot his film Nightshapes in 1999. It's all about a German businessman encountering a young refugee boy from Angola in Berlin. The latter immediately starts to cling to the old man, initiating an unusual friendship.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Peter Rommel Film
From one conflict zone to the next: Dheepan
Two years ago, French director Jacques Audiard was awarded a Palme d'Or in Cannes for his refugee drama Dheepan. It tells the story of a family from Sri Lanka that has found a new home in France, in a rough Parisian suburban housing project. The refugees face another type of conflicts in their new home.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Why Not Productions
Welcome to Europe: Mediterranea
The film Mediterranea from 2015 shows what two African refugees have to go through shortly after their arrival in Europe. American-Italian director Jonas Carpignano depicts the fate of two friends, Ayiva and Abas from Burkina Faso, who made it to southern Italy, where they face more hostility and violence.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/DCM
A disastrous reality: Fire at Sea
Last year, Italian director Gianfranco Rosi shocked viewers at the Berlinale with his documentary Fire at Sea. The winner of the Golden Bear depicted the fate of refugees fleeing across the Mediterranean to Europe. Some of them die along the way. Although Ai Weiwei's Human Flow is more ambitious in its expanse, critics found this documentary more convincing.
Image: 21 Uno Film/Weltkino Filmverleih
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When Ai Weiwei's documentary premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August, it was criticized for its "too beautiful" pictures; others felt the artist misused the topic by putting himself in the limelight.
But there were also positive reactions. Some praised the sheer visual power of the film while noting that "Human Flow" helped raise public awareness on the worldwide refugee crisis.
Ai Weiwei: 'Believing in the value of human rights'
"'Human Flow' is a personal journey, an attempt to understand the preconditions for humanity in our era," is how Ai Weiwei describes his work.
In an age of uncertainty, Ai believes that people need more tolerance, more compassion and trust in each other: "If that goal cannot be achieved, humanity will face even more serious crisis situations in the future," the Chinese artist warns.
Tremendous efforts and resources were invested in the unusual documentary: It involved 20 camera teams, shooting in locations all over the world. A total of 40 refugee camps in 23 countries were visited, and more than 1,000 hours of film material were shot.
Image: 2017 Human Flow UG
'Human Flow' illustrates the magnitude of the disaster
The documentary makes audiences grasp the magnitude of the crisis through a bird's eye view. Tens of thousands of people are seen fleeing into seemingly endless refugee camps; entire refugee towns appear to suddenly emerge out of nothing.
The background of the problem is less apparent, however. There are no attempts to explain why all this is happening, or why the refugee crisis has become one of the biggest challenges we're facing in our times. Ai Weiwei simply documents things without dealing their origin.
Ai Weiwei's intentions are undoubtedly sincere. The internationally renowned artist, who's been harassed by the Chinese state to such an extent that he had to leave his home country, sees himself as a refugee as well. That's why he feels particularly connected to the topic: "Having gone through the same experiences has enabled me to put myself in the position of the refugees. It all happened to us as well, even if under different conditions."
"Human Flow" now seems to provoke the same mixed reactions as Ai Weiwei's earlier photograph did.
Ai Weiwei appears in many scenes of the film. He talks to refugees, he symbolically exchanges passports with them, or he has his hair cut with them. It seems to be part of the artist's aesthetic concept. Obviously, he wants to avoid the impression that he is dealing with the topic from afar: "As an artist, I shouldn't be far removed from the struggles of humanity," he explains. At the same time, viewers wonder whether this attitude will really help strengthen their compassion.
Ai Weiwei in a scene from "Human Flow"Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Human Flow UG
And what about this one particular scene where a refugee obviously wants to get away from the camera, while Ai Weiwei holds him back? "I needed to show the refugees my respect. I had to touch them," that's how the Chinese artist explains his need to establish direct contacts with his protagonists.
Ai Weiwei was also criticized for the over-aestheticization of his pictures. Drone shots make the camps appear almost celestial. The refugees come across as an abstract mass of people, while the fate of individuals is neglected.
In an interview with German press agency dpa, Ai Weiwei countered the criticism: "The film is about humanity. That's why it should be beautiful even if very sad things are happening. People maintain their sense for beauty even in very desperate situations."
Viewers can now decide for themselves how they perceive Ai Weiwei's documentary. "Human Flow," which was largely financed by Germany, hits the country's theaters on November 16.
