The Rest is a new feature-length documentary by Ai Weiwei about refugees who have arrived in Europe, fleeing war, poverty, and persecution in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and other conflict-ridden countries. Most of this deeply personal, trenchant film is told through interviews with refugees and footage of their living situations. They speak of the hardships and dangers they experienced in their home countries and the treacherous routes they undertook to find safety in Europe. Now, however, living in a kind of limbo, they face a different type of suffering as victims of overburdened aid infrastructures, media fatigue, and escalating anti-immigrant sentiments. The Rest is not only an accumulation of refugees’ stories but also a mirror of the current European political zeitgeist, with profound implications for US audiences as well.

Free and open to the public. In conjunction with the exhibition Ai Weiwei: Bare Life.

Presented as part of the Human Rights Spotlight in the 28th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival.

Image credit

Still from The Rest, Dir. Ai Weiwei, 2019.