A Japanese head of a video production company in China has created a documentary about Wuhan, Hubei Province, the world's first city seriously hit by the new coronavirus, and made it available for free on social media such as Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.
Different from state-owned Chinese media reporting a lot of heartwarming and heroic stories, the film shows ordinary people facing the coronavirus crisis. The film gained rapid popularity, surpassing 21 million views as of Thursday, since its release on June 26.
The Chinese title of the 61-minute film means "It's been a long time, Wuhan" in English. Ryo Takeuchi, 41, who lives in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, visited Wuhan in early June as he wanted to see what was going on in the city. There, he filmed 11 men and women and compiled their interviews into a film.
Since the Chinese media is under state control, their reports tend to focus on the government's efforts, such as the rapid construction of hospitals dedicated to the treatment of new coronavirus patients and praising health care workers as heroes. Takeuchi's film, however, focuses on "stories of individuals."
To prevent infections, most of those who die due to the virus are transported directly to funeral homes from hospitals, along with their possessions. A female nurse who cared for infected patients said to Takeuchi in tears: "Many bereaved families made a long line at the funeral home, as they wanted to collect the possessions of their relatives. The scene made me very sad."
On Chinese websites, many have given favorable reviews to the film, with comments such as: "The film is not satire or praise. It is an objective record of people in Wuhan."
"I want Japanese people to watch it, too," Takeuchi said. The documentary, with Japanese subtitles, is also available on the video-sharing platform YouTube.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
