Starting the Conversation

The film score, dialogue, and framing of scenes in Wuhan Wuhan is succinct and artfully woven together to reflect the uncertainty, fear, and tension of the pandemic. After watching this documentary, take a moment to sit with your emotions, breath deep breaths, and like the technique that Dr. Zhang recommends to a woman at the Fangcang Temporary Hospital when caregivers come at night:

Open your eyes.

Let yourself return to reality.

Keep telling yourself: “I’m fine. I’m safe now. No one can hurt me.”

After watching the documentary:

• What are some emotions that emerge as you would use to describe the feeling of Wuhan Wuhan?
• Which of the main film participants did you have the most in common with and in what ways?
• What were the most compelling scenes in the documentary?
• What was difficult, in your experience, in watching this film? In what ways, if any, was your experience of watching this film helpful or healing?

Our Collective Humanity

山川异域 风月同天。

- 长屋王，公元7世纪

“We are from different lands and are separated by mountains and waters. Yet above us, we share the same sky and the same feelings.”
— Nagaya no Kimi, 7th-century Japanese official in a letter to a Chinese official

At the core of Wuhan Wuhan are stories of individuals working together to survive and help one another through a crisis. We see this spirit in Yin who volunteers to drive front-line medical workers, and through the sacrifices of Dr. Xiannian Zheng, the ER Chief Physician, and Susu the ICU nurse. We see it in the 119 volunteer hairdressers who give free haircuts to medical workers to improve their PPE comfort.

When Yin asks a doctor in a car ride to the hospital if he is scared, the doctor responds, “How can a doctor be scared? I can’t treat anyone if I’m scared.” He then turns the question back to Yin asking him how long he has been volunteering and acknowledges the risk he is taking as well by driving medical workers to their hospitals. Yin responds only by saying “We want to help you as much as we can.”

• Thinking back, who did you lean on as support during the pandemic? Who were you able to provide support?
• Did you recognize any similar qualities, motivations, or sensibilities between your support system and the individuals featured in Wuhan Wuhan?

Yin and his wife Xu are expecting their first child in the midst of the lockdown. As we follow her pregnancy and eventual birth, the juxtaposition of this story with the pandemic is worthy of exploration.

• How do the juxtaposition of such different experiences impact your ability to relate to the storytelling in the film? What connections emerge in your mind and heart when thinking of Yin and Xu’s story alongside Dr. Zheng, Nurse Susu, and Dr. Zhang’s experiences?
• How do these different realities (those encompassing death, and those illuminating new life) reflect our collective humanity?
• While Yin says the baby is very brave, Xu shares her fears that no one is safe in this environment. How would you characterize their wide range of disposition and emotion?
• Is there one story that you like to share about your life during COVID? Do you have a story that you have not been able to tell yet?

Our Collective Experience

“Disaster is an abnormal event. Every single emotion we have during this is normal. Agitation, despair, panic: All of these are natural reactions and not exaggerated. The mental can affect the physical.”
— Dr. Zhang, Wuhan Wuhan

“Don’t panic during this pandemic. Everyone is involved in this battle.”
— Public announcement in Wuhan, China

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a universal experience, a source of instability, emotional and economic stress, and has been traumatic for many. COVID presents a shared experience that transcends borders. The openness to share experiences and information between health care workers around the world illuminated our interdependence, how we rely on one another to survive. Our common experiences of pain, uncertainty, and fear were also connective tissues reminding us we are not alone.

• Frontline medical personnel in Wuhan lived through unimaginable trauma and with so little information, or little precedent to rely on, doctors like Dr. Zheng carried so much.
  • After watching Wuhan Wuhan how would you describe the medical professionals you witnessed in this documentary, their work, and their spirits?
• Which scene or scenes reflected these individuals’ strength, integrity, and sacrifices?
• Another layer of hardship experienced globally is rooted in the flow of information, the rumors, the misinformation, conspiracy theories, and the politicization of the virus in the wake of so many deaths around the globe.
  • What is the relationship between knowledge and information and suffering? Is there a correlation that is important to acknowledge?
  • How have you experienced misinformation leading to harmful behaviors that have created more suffering, rather than lessening it?
• If comfortable sharing, what are one or two experiences you had during the pandemic of stress? How did stress or anxiety manifest themselves in your body? What are some tools you used, or practices, to cope with these experiences?

If you were a frontline healthcare worker, did you connect with one or more scenes in Wuhan Wuhan? If so, in what ways?

Dr. Li Wenliang

Doctor Li Wenliang (34) was an ophthalmologist in Wuhan who was the first to sound a warning online about the dangerous cluster of viral infections located in Wuhan that could possibly grow out of control. He shared this information in late December 2019 in the confidences of his medical school classmates, online. In early January 2020, reports show that he was summoned by both medical officials and the Chinese police to sign a statement denouncing his own warning as a “unfounded and illegal rumor.”

Dr. Li contracted the virus and on February 6, 2020 died of COVID-19 leaving behind a wife, child, and another child on the way. In Wuhan Wuhan we see a memorial for Dr. Li in front of Central Hospital. Flowers, candles, and his picture adorn the entranceway with healthcare workers and individuals bowing in his honor. Cards say, “Hero, rest in peace!” and “RIP, Dr. Wenglian Li. We won’t forget you!”

• Why do you think the director included this footage of Dr. Li’s memorial in Wuhan Wuhan?
• How would you characterize the memorial?
• In what ways are ritual ceremonies, or memories, important for grievers? How did COVID impact the capacity for grievers to mourn in community? What lasting impacts might this have on us as a society?
• Were their similar memorials in your own community, and if so, what were they able to provide survivors?

Closing Reflection: Healing, Hope, and Survival

Watching Wuhan Wuhan years after the first outbreak and lockdown may feel like a distant memory or something very present still. The global pandemic persists. New outbreaks as a result of new variants continue, and the effects of long COVID continue to emerge in unforeseen ways. Those who lost loved ones face new realities in their day-to-day lives that are still unfolding.

As a closing ritual, acknowledging our collective struggle to survive and come out of the pandemic is important, perhaps even healing. Open up the space for audiences to share if it is comfortable. Alternatively taking a moment of silence to recognize the sacrifices so many made during the pandemic, and the millions of lives lost, could also be healing.

After taking this time, consider bringing your event to a close with the spirit of the Wuhanese people. In Wuhan Wuhan we witness again and again their fighting spirit during such extreme uncertainty. Faced with so much so quickly, their courage, compassion, and integrity is something to lift up and honor.

• In thinking back on your community during the pandemic, what is a memory or story that you want to remember and retain, and one that offers you strength to share with others?

What are your hopes for us, collectively, and for future generations and the world we are creating to leave for them?

Grounding Activity: Breathwork

This activity can be used at any time throughout your conversation or after screening the film. It is a helpful tool for relief and release of overwhelming feelings, anxious thoughts, or discomfort and a useful activity to inspire feelings of calm and comfort. Invite all participants to join in the following step-by-step breathing exercises. As the facilitator, you can read these steps aloud, and throughout the breathing exercise hold the “4, 3, 2, 1” count for attendees.

1. Find a comfortable seat and rest your feet firmly on the ground;
2. Sit up straight, gently extending the top of your head towards the sky;
3. If you feel comfortable doing so, then gently close your eyes or send your gaze towards the floor and relax your eyelids;
4. Roll your shoulders slowly forward and then slowly back;
5. Lean your head from side to side, lowering your left ear to your left shoulder and holding for a count of three, then repeating on your right side;
6. Take a deep breath in through your nose allowing your chest to rise, then your lungs to expand; count 4, 3, 2, 1…and hold;
7. Hold for a count of 4, 3, 2, 1…and release;
8. Release for a count of 4, 3, 2, 1…and hold;
9. Hold for 4, 3, 2, 1…and inhale to the count of 4, 3, 2, 1…
10. Repeat for 5-8 rounds of breath