With the help of covert reporters on the ground in China and direction from documentary filmmakers Hao Wu and Jean Tsien in New York, the team behindwas able to bring the bravery of frontline workers and the painful images of the impact of the novel coronavirus to a global audience.
To gain access to the highly restricted Wuhan hospitals during lockdown, two anonymous local reporters — who are also credited as co-directors on the film — used their press credentials to bypass security and shoot footage inside four different hospitals, director Hao Wu toldBut after the reporters got into the hospitals in Wuhan, the people in charge didn’t have enough time or energy to police what they could or couldn’t record.
The filmmakers in China and the U.S. didn’t meet in person while making the documentary but stayed in touch via the internet. The reporters uploaded their footage to a cloud service, and the team in New York was able to access it there. Due to the challenges of filming independently, the co-directors were given a lot of freedom with the style of the film.
The U.S.-based duo also explained why viewers won’t see talking heads and expert commentary that is typical of many documentaries. Beyond the logistics of editing, privacy and consistency within the film, Wu says they wanted a different experience."Maybe we shouldn't let them talk.
Regarding the hopeful ending of the film, Wu concluded:"It felt like that should be the natural ending for a film that's so intense, because that's a point that everybody got together in Wuhan in real life to mourn everything they've lost. … So I feel like that's a nice coda for this film, trying to remember everybody — even though this film is not political — I hope people are gonna remember this.