“The experience of being around him…was what I enjoyed the most about this,” said Klayman.

Twitter is a big part of Ai’s success. China has a “great firewall” on the internet, which prevents people in China from accessing sites like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. What Ai did was what many do not dare to do: jump the firewall. With VPN (Virtual Private Network), the government could not tell that Ai was accessing Twitter. Now, he was able to look at restricted websites. Eventually, China found out. It is not illegal to be on Twitter, but they shut down his blog, which cut Ai off from the world. But for a long time, Ai could say whatever he wanted, however he wanted, whenever he wanted.

When asked if she knew if the Chinese government had seen her film, she replied by saying a couple of weeks ago she would not have known. Recently at a film festival, her documentary was scheduled to be shown. But Klayman knew that the Chinese government had seen it when people from the London Chinese Embassy told the festival to pull her film. When the festival refused, the delegation withdrew from the event. She is not worried about not being able to enter China anymore because while she has not applied for another Visa, she was able to visit China after Ai was released. This is possibly one way that the government could react to her film (not letting her enter their country), but Klayman does not think that is guaranteed or likely. Klayman states that this documentary is not “slanted” or an anti-China film. It is just a documentary about Ai’s life and work. Klayman says that it is about someone who genuinely cares about China.

Ai is charismatic and brave with a great sense of humor. He can be serious when he wants to, and really cares about China’s welfare. Klayman said that Ai was always saying “strongly worded things” to criticize the Chinese government. She was greatly inspired by him and in awe of the work that he has done. Some love him, and some hate him, but the truth is, Ai Weiwei is not going anywhere. 

Learn more about the documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry on the film's website http://aiweiweineversorry.com.