Ai Weiwei’s Appeal ¥ 15,220,910.50 (Ai Weiwei; China, 2014)

Ai Weiwei once said,“Everything is art. Everything is politics.” With his Appeal ¥15,220,910.50, it is clear that in China governmental politics are used to smother meaningful art. Made directly by Ai and his studio confederates, this meticulous portrait differs from the recent The Fake Case in that it is more concerned with the ham-fisted maneuvering of the Chinese judicial system than honoring this renowned dissident. The eponymous “appeal” and its large accompanying sum refer to the fabricated tax evasion charges against Ai and the imposed fine of some $2.5 million. Six separate cinematographers from Ai’s studio are credited on the film, allowing for thorough coverage of Ai’s arrest at the Beijing Airport, incarceration for eighty-one days, and subsequent Kafkaesque tangling with the Taxation Bureau. The effect of this exhaustive look at Chinese jurisprudence is that you can (vicariously) experience the mundane but incremental weight of tangling with the state. "In China we're all suspects,” says Ai Weiwei. “It's just that we don't know what the charges are." We are all Weiwei.

• Photographed by Zhao Zhao, Li Dongxu, Guo Ke, Xia Xing, Xue Yutao, Li Jie.
(128 mins, In Mandarin with English subtitles, Color, Digital, From Ai Weiwei Studio)