Loss of humanity
HUMAN FLOW: SHOWS SCALE OF CAMPS, ENDLESS STREAM OF REFUGEES
Documentary that puts scale of refugee crises into perspective.
Recently, human history has been dominated by a different kind of migration, that of men, women and children who have no choice but to leave, sometimes to run, when bombs go off and keep going off, or food becomes too scarce, or repressive states threaten our ways of being.
Climate change, war, evil governments – there are many reasons 65 million people are displaced globally. A new documentary, Human
Flow, explores the unsettling world of those who have been stripped of their basic humanity on their journeys to find better lives and circumstances.
Shot in 23 countries, director Ai Weiwei, who is a renowned contemporary artist, navigates through a world that we sometimes don’t grasp.
The documentary explores the cause and effect of one of the greatest humanitarian disasters of all time.
Sweeping drone footage shows the scale of refugee camps and the endless flow of humans crossing countrysides in search of somewhere to call home.
It shows you how vast, dangerous and harrowing this crisis truly is via interviews and emotive footage.
It’s a testament to how ill-informed some opinions on social media are.
For example, a presidential tweet divulging erroneous data that dangerously undercuts the humanity of refugees.
In Human Flow, the message is clear. The human race has come to the point where we must learn to love and live with all cultures, races, traditions and nationalities before our sense of humanity is lost forever.
Weiwei focuses on the individual stories that form part of the larger narrative, poignantly highlighting the evil acts of govern- ments against refugees.
The film highlights the work that needs to be done and the global scale of these crises.
It engages various levels of the problems and takes the viewer into many people’s hearts.
You grasp the severity of the situation from the information that is too often skipped in articles, news clips and tweets.
Be warned, Human Flow is a heavy piece of film-making, but that is what makes it so striking from beginning to end.
It leaves you with a sense of urgency that stays with you long after it’s over, which is what makes it so effective and, above all, brilliant.
At 145 minutes, Human Flow speaks volumes about the months and years many refugees spend without a place to call home and how gruelling their day-to-day struggle really is.
It also conveys the notion of the ultimate senselessness of wars, borders and limited perspectives of humanity. Human Flow will be screened on four days, Saturday, February 10 and February 11, 13 and 14 at Cinema Nouveau Rosebank Mall (Johannesburg), Cinema Nouveau Brooklyn Mall (Pretoria) and Cinema Nouveau V&A Waterfront (Cape Town).
Don’t miss it.