''Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly'' is a 2019

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

documentary film about the Chinese artist and activist

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 ...

, and his art exhibition at

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

, a former prison on an island near

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, USA. The documentary covers the creation of the exhibition ''@Large:Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz'', a 2014 project that was shown at Alcatraz, with multiple exhibits, including Trace, which featured political prisoners around the world as lego portraits. At this time, Ai Weiwei still had his passport withheld by the

Chinese government The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mili ...

, so foreign travel was not possible for him and he had to create the exhibition remotely. The exhibition came about through contact with the San Francisco curator and gallerist Cheryl Haines. The film considers

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

. Interviews with Ai Weiwei and his mother demonstrate the psychological effect of the family's exile in the 1950s to a

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (especi ...

in northeast

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The exhibition had two main parts. "

Trace Trace may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Trace (Son Volt album), ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995 * Trace (Died Pretty album), ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993 * Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band * The Trace (album), ''The ...

" was a room with portraits on the floor of 176 people that had imprisoned for their beliefs, created in bright colors using

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

bricks. The second room, "Yours Truly", enabled visitors to write postcards to some of the imprisoned people, which were later sent by mail to the prisoners where this was possible. The film includes interviews with

Chelsea Manning Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning; December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage A ...

, a former

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

intelligence analyst who leaked military and diplomatic documents in 2010, originally sentenced to 35 years imprisonment by the

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

, and

John Kiriakou John Chris Kiriakou (born August 9, 1964) is an American author, journalist and former intelligence officer. Kiriakou is a columnist with Reader Supported News and co-host of ''Political Misfits'' on Sputnik Radio. He was formerly an analyst and ...

, a former US

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

agent who revealed the CIA's use of torture, especially

waterboarding Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water torture, water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning. In the most common method ...

, and imprisoned by the US government during 2013–15 at the time of the exhibition. The film has been shown on the

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

television channel. and is available internationally for streaming throug
Amazon Prime VideoiTunesGoogle PlayMontage
and in the UK only o
Vimeo On Demand
via Journeyman Pictures.

References

External links

Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly Official Website
* {{IMDb title, 10171988
Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly trailer (2019)
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

2019 films 2019 documentary films American documentary films American documentary films about politics Documentary films about visual artists Documentary films about human rights Documentary films about China Films about activists 2010s English-language films Ai Weiwei Alcatraz Island 2010s Mandarin-language films 2010s American films