Filmed inside Wuhan's hospitals during the first lockdown of 2020, 76 Days is a feature documentary that stays at the bedside while the rest of the world was still learning the name of the virus.
What is 76 Days about?
The title refers to the length of the lockdown that sealed off Wuhan at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Directors Hao Wu and Weixi Chen build the film from footage shot on the wards during those weeks, following exhausted nurses and doctors in full protective gear as they admit frightened patients, calm relatives at locked doors, and keep working through shifts that seem to have no end. There is no narrator and no expert interview. Instead the camera watches small moments: a hand held through a glove, a phone that keeps ringing on a nightstand, a staff member writing names on plastic suits so colleagues can tell each other apart. The documentary is a joint Chinese and American production and runs just over ninety minutes, moving in rough chronological order from the chaos of the first admissions towards the quieter days when the city begins to reopen.
About the cast
As an observational documentary, 76 Days has no credited cast. The people on screen are real patients and real hospital staff in Wuhan, most of them hidden behind masks, goggles and layered gowns, which is partly why the handwritten names on their suits become so important to the viewer. Co-director Weixi Chen was among those gathering footage on the ground, while Hao Wu shaped the material into its final form. The result belongs to the direct-cinema tradition: nobody addresses the camera, and the drama comes entirely from what the crew managed to witness.
Context & significance
Released in 2020, the same year the events it records took place, 76 Days was one of the first feature-length documentaries to show the inside of the pandemic's original epicentre rather than report on it from a distance. For Persian-speaking viewers the subject needs little introduction; Iran was among the earliest countries outside China to face a serious outbreak, and the images of overwhelmed wards and improvised protective equipment will feel close to home. The film is listed under both documentary and drama, a pairing that reflects how the material plays: factual in method, but structured around the emotional arc of the people caught inside the lockdown. It is also a rare example of Chinese and American filmmakers collaborating on a record of a global event, with the footage originating in Wuhan and the editing and release handled internationally.
Watching 76 Days on Ktime
76 Days streams on K-Time for members. Create a free account and log in to start the film; the catalogue and this page can be browsed without one. K-Time's interface is available in Persian, so navigating to the title, adjusting playback and resuming later all work in a familiar language for diaspora households. The documentary is presented in its original audio.