View source for Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case

{{Infobox film
|italic_title=force
| name           = Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case
| image          = Ai Weiwei- The Fake Case poster.jpg
| caption        = Film poster
| director       = Andreas Johnsen
| producer       = Katrine Sahlstrøm
| starring       = [[Ai Weiwei]]
| music          =
| cinematography = Andreas Johnsen
| editing        = Adam Nielsen
| studio         = Rosforth Films<br>Danish Documentary<br>[[BBC]]
| distributor    = International Film Circuit
| released       = {{Film date|2013|11|6|[[CPH:DOX]]}}
| runtime        = 86 minutes
| country        = [[Denmark]]
| language       = Mandarin<br>English
}}
'''''Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case''''' is a 2013 [[documentary film]] about [[China|Chinese]] artist and activist [[Ai Weiwei]], directed by Danish filmmaker [[Andreas Johnsen]]. The film won Best 2014 Documentary in [[Danish Film Critics Association]]'s [[67th Bodil Awards]], played in the official selection of 2014 [[Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival]] in Toronto and [[International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam]].<ref>[http://www.bodilprisen.dk/2014 Danish Film Critics' Association's Bodil Awards 2014 Winners]</ref><ref>[http://www.hotdocs.ca/media/press_releases/hot_docs_announces_complete_made_in_denmark_selections Hot Docs Announces Complete Made In Denmark Selections]</ref><ref>[http://realscreen.com/2013/10/11/return-to-homs-ai-weiwei-the-fake-case-set-for-idfa/ “Return to Homs,” “Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case” set for IDFA]</ref>
The documentary explores Ai Weiwei's battle against the [[Ai Weiwei#Tax case|fake tax case]] thrust on him by the [[Chinese government]] in effort of political suppression and the consequences that the 81-day detention had on his art, politics and personal life. It was pitched at the 2012 MeetMarket as part of the [[Sheffield Doc/Fest]].
== Description ==
''Ai Weiwei The Fake Case'' opens with scenes of Ai Weiwei being released from his 81-day detention spent in solitary confinement, and he is subsequently put on house arrest following gigantic and inexplicable charges of tax evasion, a case film's title references. He suffers from a sleeping disorder and memory loss, 18 cameras are monitoring his studio and home, police agents follow his every move, and heavy restrictions from the [[Kafkaesque]] Chinese authorities weigh him down. Ai Weiwei is visibly shaken, but during his year on probation he steadily finds new ways to provoke and challenge the mighty authoritarian regime in his fight for human rights and free expression.
The film picks up where [[Alison Klayman]]'s ''[[Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry]]'' left off, but ''Ai Weiwei The Fake Case'' is more explicitly political.<ref>Makinen, Julie (10 June 2014) [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-ai-weiwei-interview-fake-case-20140610-story.html "For Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, 'free' is a relative term"] ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''</ref> The documentary also features creation of S.A.C.R.E.D., an artwork featuring sculpture dioramas of Ai's time in prison, which premiered during the 2013 [[Venice Biennale]].<ref>Higgins, Charlotte (30 May 2013) [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/may/30/ai-weiwei-venice-biennale "Ai Weiwei shows Venice Biennale his many sides"] ''[[The Guardian]]''</ref>
==Critical reception==
On [[review aggregator]] [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 7.14/10.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ai_weiwei_the_fake_case|title=Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case (2014)|publisher=|accessdate=21 May 2020|via=www.rottentomatoes.com}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a [[weighted arithmetic mean|weighted average]] score of 73 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ai-weiwei-the-fake-case|title=Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case|publisher=|accessdate=21 May 2020|via=www.metacritic.com}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
<!-- Per [[WP:ELMINOFFICIAL]], choose one official website only -->
*{{Official website|http://www.aiweiweithefakecase.com/}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140714161150/http://www.internationalfilmcircuit.com/fakecase/index.html Official ''International Film Circuit'' (U.S. distributor) site for the film]
*{{IMDb title|3281074|Ai Weiwei The Fake Case}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|ai_weiwei_the_fake_case}}
* {{Metacritic film}}
{{Ai Weiwei}}
[[Category:2013 films]]
[[Category:Works about Ai Weiwei]]
[[Category:2013 documentary films]]
[[Category:Danish documentary films]]
[[Category:Documentary films about China]]
[[Category:Documentary films about human rights]]
[[Category:Documentary films about visual artists]]
[[Category:Documentary films about law]]
[[Category:2010s legal films]]
[[Category:Best Documentary Bodil Award winners]]