Ai Weiwei puts human face on migrant crisis in ‘Human Flow’

VENICE, Italy (AP) — The United Nations says there are 65 million forcibly displaced people around the world — a number so huge it can be overwhelming to contemplate.

Artist Ai Weiwei wants to make viewers see both the scale of the crisis and the humanity of the migrants with his documentary “Human Flow,” premiering Friday at the Venice Film Festival.

The film, one of 21 competing for the festival’s Golden Lion prize, shows a deep empathy with its subjects — one Ai came to through direct experience.

Ai spent his childhood in a remote Chinese community after his poet father was exiled by the country’s Communist authorities.

He says “I was born when my father was a refugee. I understood how low humanity can go … and how wrong things can go.”