Ai Weiwei's beautifully shot documentary juxtaposes with the tragedy of its subjects: the mass refugee migrations of the Middle East.

Years-long civil war in Syria. Religious extremism in Iraq. Droughts and famines in Africa. All across the Middle East, millions of people are facing the most desperate fights of their lives - and many have no choice but to flee elsewhere in search of something better.

Enter the camera work of Chinese director and artist Ai Weiwei, who highlights the incredible difficulty of refugee journeys in ways that many people would otherwise never see. It's not easy to travel thousands of miles with little money, extreme prejudice against you, and huge cultural barriers that target you - and never has that been more apparent than in HUMAN FLOW.

A project backed by Participant Media, HUMAN FLOW was filmed in 23 countries over the course of a year, chronicling the staggering breadth of the global refugee crisis.

Ai Weiwei is a well-known artist and political activist in China, even acting as the artistic consultant on the 2008 Olympic Stadium in Beijing, and in 2012 he was named as one of the top 100 influential people in the world by TIME Magazine.