Timing, as they say, is everything, and for aspiring filmmaker Alison Klayman, that meant being in Beijing filming China's most well-known contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei, at precisely the moment the Chinese government decided to throw him in jail.
It was certainly an illuminating moment, showing that despite all the publicity surrounding China's increasing modernization, sophistication and social progress, you could be famous, admired at home and abroad, and still get thrown into the slammer for what amounts to thought crime.
Klayman, attending the Japan premiere of her documentary "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry" at the Tokyo International Film Festival — and now apparently calling Tokyo her home for a while — spoke to The Japan Times about her debut film, and the political climate in China. Klayman was originally drawn to China after graduating from Brown University, planning to visit some friends in Beijing for about five months that turned into five years. She readily admits, "It was about the most random thing I could do, but I loved learning languages and my aspiration was to do film and journalism, so I figured, 'What better way to start than to just go somewhere?' "