Following up her Sundance winner One Child Nation, filmmaker Nanfu Wang has returned with In The Same Breath, a look inside the early days of the pandemic and specifically the spread of misinformation and the toll it caused. Ahead of a theatrical release in LA this week and NY next week, as well as an HBO Max bow on August 18, the first trailer has arrived.
David Katz said in his Sundance review, “The film’s early narrative beats introduce Wang’s main focus: the scourge of wilful misinformation and fake news that contributed in its own way to the loss of life. On New Year’s Day 2020, shown in tandem with General Secretary Xi Jinping’s optimistic public address, is a news bulletin that eight people were arrested for spreading ‘false rumors’ about an unknown pneumonia. As January unfolds, local hospitals start to dangerously overfill but the state brass are still unwilling to acknowledge any health crisis. In a strange echo of the early US response, Wang’s main revelation is how the Chinese authorities pushed an initial falsehood that all was well, linked to its propaganda arm’s skill at promoting national unity (she has lots of amusement piling up quick edits of kitschy performances of communist anthems and ceremonial dance numbers).”
See the trailer below.
In the Same Breath arrives on HBO Max on August 18.