HIFF Virtual Cinema presents Ai Wei Wei: Yours Truly from director Cherlyn Haines, chronicling the just released artist, dissident and humanitarian as he collaborates on an exciting new art project in San Francisco.
Human rights become profoundly personal when Ai Weiwei, China’s most famous artist, transforms Alcatraz Island prison into an astonishing expression of socially-engaged art focused on the plight of the unjustly incarcerated. At the core of the installation, called @Large, were portraits of prisoners of conscience coupled with the opportunity to write letters of solidarity to the imprisoned.
In her impassioned and powerful film, director Cheryl Haines captures this monumental exhibition from conception to fruition, and as well visits current and former prisoners, including American whistleblower Chelsea Manning, to learn how these letters were vital to their survival.