Last weekend, WildChina expert Alison Klayman received a Sundance Film Festival Award for her film, Ai Weiwei Never Sorry.
The film documents Ai Weiwei from 2008 toJune 2011, during which Klayman had unparalleled access the artist’s personal life. When Chinese authorities detained Ai Weiwei for three months in Spring 2011, Klayman made many media appearances to speak about Ai and her work, including on CNN International and The Colbert Report. That same year, she was named a Sundance Documentary Fellow and listed in Filmmaker Magazine’s annual list of “25 New Faces of Independent Film.”
WildChina spoke with Klayman earlier today to discuss her experience at Sundance. “The real reward has definitely been the overall response to the film at Sundance, from the audiences and also the filmmaking community. To have the whole festival and town buzzing about Ai Weiwei’s charisma, humor and courage, to overhear conversations around town about China and social media and change, and to see that the overwhelming takeaway message for audiences was to be inspired to go speak out in their own life…that was the real reward.”
From everyone at WildChina, congratulations!
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Photos by: LA Times
