Calling for a nation-wide civic participation in documentary making to record the history of coronavirus outbreak , Shanghai based company MeDoc launches a new project ONE MORE DAY.
It’s a critical time for all, not only for those in the country but also for those who care about its people. The sadness and pressure are beyond words. This deep sorrow and frustration can only be understood by people who are currently in China, and those who have lived or travelled there before.
On February 5, Qin Xiaoyu, co-founder of Elemeet and MeDoc published an announcement via the company’s WeChat account. He wrote:
“A weird virus was born and its outbreak, isolation, panic and anxiety swept across China. As filmmakers we are eager to make a panoramic documentary about this situation, but due to current circumstances there is very little we can do. We have decided that perhaps we could invite every one of you affected by the epidemic to work with us to complete a documentary, by using your mobile phone to record a day in your life.
On February 9th 2020 (yes, one common day), please pick up a device and record a special moment of yours, at any time. You can be alone or with family or loved ones. Your footage can be raw material or an edited piece, between 2 and 5 minutes long. Please send your footage to us by February 10th.
We will start editing the materials and putting them together. By doing so, we hope that this film will represent a very special “one day”. 24 hours during the coronavirus outbreak in China, with many different experiences and emotions recorded by you
After the announcement was released, it has to date been read by over 100K WeChat users. According to the project’s latest update, the team has now received more than 5,000 submissions.
ONE MORE DAY will be produced under the documentary production brand of MeDoc, a brother company of Elemeet. Elemeet is an on-demand cinema platform in China (similar to Our Screen in the UK), set out to promote specialised and arthouse films as an alternative distribution model. It is currently working with 124 distributors and 2,639 cinemas across the country.
This is not the first time that Qin Xiaoyu has launched a documentary project which involves civic participation. Previously, he also directed Verses of Us (2015), a documentary where it involved migrant worker poets in China. The project team repeatedly emphasise in their publicities for ONE MORE DAY, that all citizen are considered as main filmmakers for this documentary and will be credited properly.
While all international medias are currently struggling to get footages out on the ground for their coverages about the outbreak, ONE MORE DAY will become an important record of history, made by the people.
Stay strong Wuhan, Stay strong China!
