NPR

'Human Flow' Offers A Searing Look At The Global Refugee Crisis

Using aerial photography and intimate, one-on-one interviews to document the plight of migrants in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia, artist Ai Weiwei's documentary is grim but vital.
<em>Human Flow</em> is a documentary directed by Ai Weiwei that explores the everyday lives of people fleeing various conflicts around the world.

In a scene of startling beauty in Ai Weiwei's , a group of refugees huddles together, with light bouncing off golden insulation blankets handed out by workers to warm them up as they arrive off a boat in Europe. Ai's work is often meant to provoke, but the shot isn't meant to plunder suffering for art's sake. It's a moment of noticing, in a gorgeous-looking documentary that never spares us the

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