Susan Sarandon and director Alison Klayman. (Andrew Toth/PatrickMcMullan.com)

New Yorkers who walked by the Pulitzer Fountain outside the Plaza Hotel last summer might have been familiar with the artist Ai Weiwei, or at least with his work. His large, striking bronze sculptures, an interpretation of the Chinese zodiac, were impossible to miss on the walk across town on 59th Street.

But what they may not have known was that the installation went on without the artist: he was missing, detained by the Chinese government, supposedly for tax evasion, after many his acts of protest against censorship.

Alison Klayman wants to fill in these gaps of knowledge. Her new documentary, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry premiered last night at a Peggy Siegal Company screening at the Chelsea Clearview Cinema, hosted by Susan Sarandon, to a crowd mostly of New York City artists and film makers.

“I think whenever anyone sees censorship of any kind that the only way [censorship] can continue is if everyone is silent,” Ms. Sarandon told The Observer. “They used to say silence equals death.”

The documentary takes viewers through a tour of the artist’s personal life, explaining his artistic development and his use of Twitter to bring attention to injustices committed by Chinese authorities. Since his exhibit last summer, he was released from his detainment, only to be charged with a $2.4 million fee, levied against him because of his supposed tax evasion. Following the charge, he posted $1.3 million with Chinese tax authorities to contest the bill, but after being barred from his hearing in May, lost the appeal. Currently the artist is unable to leave China, but plans to continue fighting the charge by filing lawsuits in other courts.

“I really hoped that I would provide a good introduction for people who knew nothing, but also that it would be for the insider who already knew him really well,” Ms. Klayman told us.

Ms. Klayman told The Observer that during Ai Weiwei’s 2011 detainment she was nervous about what international support could do, fearful that it would only increase Chinese efforts to keep him under lock and key. But after his initial release, she was given hope. “I saw that building a support group for Ai Weiwei and all the international people he represents could be a good thing,” she told us.

The film closed with a suggestion to follow the film's Twitter account, to keep the conversation going. Meanwhile, attendees kept their conversations going, many about the film’s powerful message, at an after party at The Double Seven in the Meatpacking District.

Among those present were model Hailey Gates, filmmaker Alistair Banks Griffin, artist Dustin Yellin and actress Aleksa Palladino.

Stickers and cards of Ai Weiwei’s image were scattered on the tables, and many of the guests gathered in the small room told The Observer that they knew of Ai Weiwei’s work before the documentary but it opened up an entire new wealth of knowledge.

The executive producer of the film, Karl Katz, told us he hopes viewers get the message. “That’s the reason we invested a heck of a lot of time and effort, and of course money,” he told us.

Ms. Klayman, in a moment when she wasn’t being congratulated, told The Observer that everyone seemed to be positive about the film’s message. She was apprehensive before about the opening to the public on Friday.

“Are people really ready to hear about what Ai Weiwei does?” She asked. “I feel good about it now.”