Still from Ai Weiwei’s Appeal ¥15,220,910.50 (Ai Weiwei, China, 2014)
In solidarity with @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, the film series I’m Weiwei: Activism, Free Expression, Human Rights runs from November 2 through December 11 at the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Series curator Steve Seid writes:
“I’m Weiwei addresses many of the issues that confront this great Chinese artist — basic human rights, free expression, incarceration, abuses of state power — but it does so by examining how an individual’s personal principles connect to a greater cultural good. A half-dozen innovative documentaries offer portraits of men and women who have found themselves actively engaged, whether in response to unexpected circumstance or as a result of a calculated allegiance to a cause. I’m Weiwei traces the many measures of commitment, from the artful activism of Steve Kurtz to the poetic resistance of John Trudell, from the rabble-rousing of Haiti’s Jean Léopold Dominique to the undaunted pacifism of Palestine’s Ayed Morrar. We also include the premiere of Ai’s own Appeal ¥15,220,910.50, a personal, heavily nuanced glimpse of his Kafkaesque tangles with China’s Taxation Bureau. Ai Weiwei once said ‘A life lived in silence is not a life.’ This series looks at people who have made a big noise.”
Many screenings feature special guests, including the FOR-SITE Foundation’s own Cheryl Haines. Here’s the schedule:
Sunday, November 2, 6 p.m.
Strange Culture (Lynn Hershman Leeson, US, 2007)
Lynn Hershman Leeson in person
Sunday, November 16, 5:30 p.m.
Trudell (Heather Rae, US, 2005)
Special guest: John Trudell
Sunday, November 23, 6:30 p.m.
The Agronomist (Jonathan Demme, US/Haiti, 2003)
Wednesday, December 3, 7 p.m.
Ai Weiwei’s Appeal ¥15,220,910.50 (Ai Weiwei, China, 2014)
Special guest: Cheryl Haines
Thursday, December 4, 7 p.m.
High Tech, Low Life (Stephen T. Maing, China/US, 2012)
Special guest: Monica Lam
Sunday, December 7, 6:45 p.m.
Fatal Assistance (Raoul Peck, France/Haiti/US/Belgium, 2013)
Thursday, December 11, 7 p.m.
Budrus (Julia Bacha, Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories, 2009)
Special guests: Mujahid Sarsur and Jameelah Sarsur
For more information and to buy tickets, visit the BAM/PFA website.
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