This film is followed by a prerecorded Q&A.

Wuhan Wuhan is a deeply compassionate portrayal of the early days of COVID-19. Despite shuttered shops, eerily empty streets and deserted public spaces, the city of Wuhan still teems with stories. Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang (director of the award-winning Up the Yangtze) follows optimistic essential workers whose personalities shine through layers of PPE.

The film focuses on a handful of characters: Zhang is a psychologist who traveled to Wuhan to help quarantined patients and overtaxed medical workers deal with stress, grief and anger; Yin is a gentle father-to-be who can’t bear being cooped up, and so has volunteered to drive medical staff where they need to go; Zheng keeps a sense of humour while running a fast-paced emergency room; nurse Susu cries when her job necessitates the cutting of her hair, and tries to comfort her children from afar; and Lailai and Mama Liu long to leave their sterile, makeshift quarantine centre.

Yung Chang’s intimate access to medical workers, patients and hospitals during the lockdown, along with his empathetic eye for detail, creates insight that transcends the confusion and loneliness of isolation, revealing a tenacious spirit of togetherness. Wuhan Wuhan is restrained, meditative, beautiful and alienating all at the same time, and lands with immense emotional impact. -KR

Audience Partner