(Included in the “Short Cuts 5” programme)
Canada | 2020 | English, Mandarin, 29 minutes
Director: Tiffany Hsaiung from Toronto won a Peabody Award for her previous film
In an act of love and determination, director Tiffany Hsiung embarks on a journey to Taipei to uncover the missing pieces of her mother’s fragmented past. This documentary weaves a tender, personal story about unexpected familial healing and connection.
Link: https://www.tiff.net/events/short-cuts-2020-programme-5
Directors: Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, Anonymous. USA 93 minutes
Raw and intimate, this documentary captures the struggles of patients and frontline medical professionals battling the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan.
The opening sequences feel like a genre movie — science-fiction, zombie horror, apocalyptic thriller. We watch hospital workers, encased in PPE so that we only see their eyes behind foggy goggles, as they race from one patient to another. At the hospital doors, a desperate crowd is clamouring for entry. The overwhelmed workers can only admit a few people at a time.
The filmmakers of 76 Days capture an invaluable record of life inside Wuhan, China, ground zero for the outbreak of COVID-19. On January 23, the city of 11 million people went into a lockdown that lasted 76 days. This film concentrates mainly on medical workers and patients to give a pulse-racing account.
76 Days excels beyond mere reportage. The camera work is so strong that you could frame still images. In the face of fear and uncertainty, we witness perseverance and humour, as medical workers use magic markers to decorate their plastic outfits. One memorable figure is a head nurse who never fails to make a human connection with patients, even under the most dire circumstances.
76 Days is a lasting work of art for future generations trying to understand this pandemic.
Director: Wang Jing. China, Mandarin, 114 minutes
This timely debut from Wang Jing, Jia Zhang-ke’s assistant director, was inspired by a journalist who defended 120 million people’s rights with a pen.
Inspired by true events, Wang Jing’s assured debut illuminates China’s independent film scene with new colours and fresh energy. Set in 2003, in the aftermath of the SARS epidemic, The Best Is Yet to Come addresses issues that echo today’s global scenario, where politics and prejudices sometimes conflict with safety and health concerns.
It is also a touching character study and a thrilling exploration of investigative journalism in China, The Best Is Yet to Come — produced by star auteur Jia Zhang-ke (Platform, Still Life) — informs, moves, and shocks. It is an indelible visual account of lives from a past that is suddenly too close.
