Alison Klayman (born 1984) is an American filmmaker and journalist best known for her award-winning 2012 documentary '' Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry''.

Life and career

Klayman grew up in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and graduated from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 2006 with a bachelor of arts degree in history. After her studies she went on a five-month trip to China with a college classmate and wound up staying to learn

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

and work. She has contributed to PBS

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. After meeting artist

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...

while filming his exhibit for a local gallery, she started shooting footage for a longer documentary in December 2008. '' Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry'' debuted at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

and won the Special Jury Prize and a 2013

Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *'' Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interl ...

. Klayman's documentary on

Abercrombie & Fitch Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) is an American lifestyle retailer that focuses on casual wear. Its headquarters are in New Albany, Ohio. The company operates three other offshoot brands: Abercrombie Kids, Hollister Co., and Gilly Hicks. As of Februar ...

focused on the store's success and controversies, including its racist and exclusionary practices. '' White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch'' was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in 2022. In that same year, Klayman also released "Unfinished Business," a documentary centered on the WNBA, primarily the

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as part of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was f ...

, one of the league's original franchises. The film centered upon the Liberty's debut season along with the rest of the league in 1997 as well as their 25th anniversary campaign in 2021. ""Unfinished Business," to me, means that there's a potential that has yet to be fulfilled for this league and its place in the culture," Klayman told Geoff Magliocchetti of

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

. It stands for progress for women, trans, gay, black athletes, and so many things. But, fundamentally, I do think the biggest thing that this film talks about is the WNBA's trajectory." Klayman is Jewish.

Filmography

* '' Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry'' (2012) * '' The 100 Years Show'' (2015) * ''11/8/16'' (2017) * '' Take Your Pills'' (2018) * '' The Brink'' (2019) * ''

Jagged ''Jagged'' is the fifteenth solo studio album by English musician Gary Numan, his first original album in over five years, following ''Pure'' in 2000. Stylistically ''Jagged'' was a development of its predecessor's chorus-driven, anthemic ...

'' (2021) * '' White Hot: The Rise & Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch (2022)'' * ''Unfinished Business'' (2022)

Awards and honors

Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia Award Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *'' Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interl ...

*Alliance of Women Film Journalists *Ashland Independent Film Festival *DGA Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary *Filmmaker Magazine "25 New Faces of Independent Film" *New York Times International List of 20 Directors to Watch *Sundance Film Festival – Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Defiance *Taiwan International Documentary Film Festival

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klayman, Alison 1984 births Brown University alumni American documentary filmmakers 20th-century American Jews Mass media people from Philadelphia Living people Filmmakers from Pennsylvania American women documentary filmmakers Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy alumni 21st-century American Jews