In the Same Breath

Sometime in late 2019, and January 2020, a newly discovered virus, now known as COVID-19, quickly grew into a respiratory illness pandemic. There would be much debate on how it was born, or where it began. However, we now have learned that the virus can be especially deadly to humans with underlying medical problems such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer.

Moreover, the world has learned the hard way how easily the COVID-19 virus spreads, primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Hence, the inconvenient yet prudent use of masks and "social distancing."

Nanfu Wang's "In the Same Breath," is a cutting look at this devastating pandemic. She neatly weaves the political narrative with the personal suffering of people first hand after she flew to China with her infant to visit her family for the New Year.

This is her story, told through a documentary film that immediately fills the eyes with images of hospitals, medical personnel, Chinese and US news reports, fear, denial, and other visions of pure disbelief even as the virus continued to quickly spread beyond China and across the globe.

What may transpire from this documentary is that the world was unprepared for such a catastrophe, and the strong leadership that was necessary to form a reaction plan simply didn't come to pass.

As of August 20, 2021, 4,417,500 people have died from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak.

Excellent documentation of events. Must watch. The show should get an award for exemplary reporting.

I was blown away by this work. Loved how the director focused equally on China's and America's responses to the virus and how both administrative systems failed to contain the virus. This documentary needs to be seen by more people.

Excellent documentary! If this doesn't win a award we should stop giving out awards all together. A must see documentary. Especially for the "Doubting Thomas's" of covid 19.

This has everything you'd want in a COVID-19 documentary. I was very impressed by the way Director Nanfu and the rest of the crew shot this entire documentary. It was beautifully shot, it perfectly captured the emotions pouring from those who have been affected by the virus. My heart broke watching some of the scenes of families and hospital staff members. It left you mad and sad with the way the government handled COVID, despite it being unprecedented.

The juxtaposition of Americans and the narrative in China, was by far the best piece in any language on the pandemic. There was great comparisons to the lack of leadership by the governments. This documentary shows its viewers the brutal truth; the truth that many people would choose to look away from because it is so unbearable.

This documentary was a much needed point of view, and I'm glad the brilliant film was made and shared.