How does someone react to a pandemic’s destructive forces? The citizens of Wuhan answered with an equal mix of heartbreak and hope as COVID-19 struck. MTV Documentary Films’ “76 Days” chronicles their initial lockdown as a world sat unaware of the dangers ahead. Instead of focusing the lens on political figures or the usual suspects that dominate news coverage, this project chooses to show the human impact of an impending disaster.
It took an unlikely set of circumstances to get the project made. Filmmaker Hao Wu began to see raw footage from China and realized its global significance. He set up an intricate system—with filmmaker Weixi Chen and an uncredited contributor on board to deliver footage. Speaking to the LA Times, Wu reflected on the pair’s influences as they monitored character arcs and changing environments: “I tried to give them some advice about character focus and about coverage, but in general they made most of the decisions on the ground themselves because the situation was changing really fast.”
The film’s official synopsis: “On January 23rd, 2020, China locked down Wuhan, a city of 11 million, to combat the emerging COVID-19 outbreak. Set in four hospitals, ’76 DAYS’ tells indelible human stories at the center of this pandemic—from a woman begging in vain to bid a final farewell to her father, a grandfather with dementia searching for his way home, a couple anxious to meet their newborn, to a nurse determined to return personal items to families of the deceased. These intimate stories bear witness to the death and rebirth of a city under a 76-day lockdown, and to the compassion and human resilience that persists in times of profound tragedy.”
‘Days’ already created a buzz with screenings at the TIFF and DOC NYC. Its potential outreach grew recently with the addition of worldwide distribution deals; MTV Films is handling domestic rights. Gotham Award nominee “76 Days” debuts in Virtual Cinemas on December 4. The original Mandarin language track is accompanied by English subtitles. Watch the film’s trailer below.
