Scenes from the city

In fact, the work took her just two and half a weeks to shoot. However, the process of obtaining filming permits and persuading people to appear in the film cost her a great deal more time and energy.

To secure permission to gain entry into the Olympic stadiums to shoot an artistic film, Morris traveled to the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland, to try and persuade officials there in person rather than relying on email.

"I enjoy having conversations and persuading people. It's an interesting process. My work is about the power of art. I believe art has the power to open doors and bring very different people together," she says.

With her list of recent contacts running to 30,000 people, being a film producer means that Morris has to reach out to lots of new faces and ask for help when she takes on a new project.

Sticking to the style of Beijing, most of Morris' later films followed a similarly fragmented approach, with scenes changing quickly with little apparent connection. It's her way, says the artist, to place viewers in a visual framework that represents a much larger entity and allow audiences to feel like they are on the inside.

Philip Tinari, director of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, says Morris uses the theme of being on the inside in all her works. Tinari sees this as a reflection of wider society, where situations often arise that people fail to see or think that are out of their control.