The production team of the documentary “Lockdown in Wuhan” revealed the backstage story of the film, with the creators in the United States remotely contacting interviewees in Wuhan, China through encrypted communication software.
The public welfare documentary “Lockdown in Wuhan” premiered simultaneously in seven major cities worldwide on December 30, 2023. It is a detailed record of the emotions of Wuhan residents and the censorship of official statements during the lockdown period in Wuhan, Hubei Province. The documentary was planned by Wang Dan, the founder of Dialogue China. It was funded and produced by a team of volunteers including entrepreneurs, directors, writers, photographers, music producers, etc. The documentary was shown for free as a public service.
The choice of premiere date was to honor the late Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang, who first issued a warning about the epidemic online on December 30, 2019.
On the evening of January 27, 2025, the documentary completed in secret by volunteers from around the world was screened at the Season Wind Library in Washington DC. The nearly two-hour film not only documented the painful sacrifices made by the people living in this tragic city during the over 100 days of lockdown but also highlighted the stringent censorship of speech and news by the Chinese authorities.
According to a report by Voice of America on January 29, the English translation of the documentary was done by Dr. Tang Maoqin, a Ph.D. in religious studies from Boston University. She explained the precautions taken during the interviews, ensuring safety and confidentiality for both the interviewees and volunteers involved in the production.
Dr. Maoqin mentioned that even post-production editing of the film was done secretly in both China and the United States. The team used specially registered domain emails for communication. One of the key creators was Lu Yuyu, a journalist who had been imprisoned for running a “non-news” website. Despite facing strict surveillance from the Chinese authorities, Lu Yuyu took precautions to ensure the safety of the information by immediately uploading completed work to a secure cloud and then clearing his computer.
The event of Li Wenliang, a doctor at Wuhan Central Hospital, issuing a warning about the unknown pneumonia to his classmates via WeChat on December 30, 2019, marked the beginning of public awareness about the Wuhan epidemic, for which he later faced reprimand from the authorities.
In January 2020, Wuhan became the first city in the world to report cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and the first city to undergo a comprehensive lockdown.
“This is not just a public health event but also a war about information and truth,” said Yu Miao, CEO of Season Wind Library, addressing the audience at the screening. He pointed out the importance of free speech and the heavy censorship enforced during the crisis.
From Li Wenliang’s initial warning to the official lifting of the Wuhan lockdown on April 8, 2020, the epidemic lasted for 101 days. During this time, the Chinese authorities issued at least 131 propaganda directives, deleted 44 media reports and 229 self-media articles, leading to 638 cases of censorship. The lockdown in Wuhan not only became a humanitarian disaster but also a freedom of speech catastrophe in human history.
Yu Liwei, who has been living abroad from Shanghai for many years, attended the screening on the evening of January 27. He expressed that even after five years since the outbreak, China has not completely healed from the trauma of the pandemic.
“Post-lockdown, there have been many events, including the blank movement and reflections on the epidemic. However, due to information and news control in China, many voices might not be able to be heard,” he remarked.
Despite the passing of time, the global pandemic that claimed countless lives still remains a topic of relentless pursuit for truth. Questions about the origins of the epidemic and its consequences continue to be debated even after five years. Yu Liwei stated that the truth about this epidemic and the actual number of deaths in Wuhan may never be known definitively.
The interviewees and some of the creators of the documentary “Lockdown in Wuhan” are currently in exile overseas. Yang Min, who tragically lost her beloved daughter during the outbreak, left China in 2023 and resettled in the Netherlands. Last year, Lu Yuyu arrived in Canada after a thrilling escape. However, many individuals remain hidden in China under assumed identities.
Dr. Tang Maoqin expressed her pride as a Chinese expatriate in participating in the production of such a film. Despite the risks it posed to herself and her family in China, she considered it a responsibility that couldn’t be avoided.
“The event of the Wuhan lockdown is a collective memory for the whole nation and the ethnic group, truly a historical tribulation. When we were experiencing the lockdown and the subsequent series of events, our hearts were filled with sorrow. I felt so small yet hopeful to contribute something,” she said.