On the evening of March 28, 2022, the Shanghai authority announced the lockdown starting the next day and promised to end on April 5. But it extended with no end in sight. Stories of desperation are emerging with increasingly widespread reports of residents being unable to access food, medicine, and other essentials. As one of 26 million residents, Shanghai native filmmaker Clarissa Zhang experienced the two month lockdown. Under every day of growing cries for help, she used her camera as a shelter to survive. The film documents the traumatic personal memories silenced by authorities but will never be forgotten.
Clarissa Zhang
Clarissa Zhang is an independent producer and director born and raised in Shanghai. She studied screenwriting and directing at the Shanghai Film Art Academy and graduated from the Berlinale Talents and Tokyo Talents film programs. Her first feature-length film, Dead Pigs (2018) directed by Cathy Yan and executive produced by Jia Zhangke, had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2018 and won the Special Jury Award. She is currently working on her feature documentary debut, When Clouds Gather.
Quarantine is a long, sleepless, waiting game for Clarissa Zhang in Shanghai Quarantopia (2023). The days that followed after March 28, 2022 are vacant of cheerful smiles and small topics between neighbors. Before then, each morning would always feel alive, however, in the short days that followed, speculations and wary evenings became the only thing…
