MUST-SEE MOVIES AND SERIES

CHINA’S BATTLE AGAINST COVID-19

This 28-minute English-language documentary was released in early April on Tencent Video, Bilibili, and Youtube, offering a brief look into China’s fight against the pandemic. Featuring interviews with international scholars, foreign medical personnel in China, Chinese residents, and volunteer doctors in Wuhan, the film presents itself as an effort to give China’s side of the story amid rumors and accusations. It takes the audience through the discovery of the virus, China’s response, the transportation shutdown in Wuhan, support from the international community, and the impact on trade.

THE WINNERS

In this lighthearted comedy, bank employee Yan Jin (Dong Chengpeng) annoys his boss and colleagues with his strict and meticulous attitude toward work. When he is assigned to play a bank robber in a company drill, everyone tells him it’s just a formality, and he is supposed to go quietly with the police when “captured.”But under his Pikachu head mask, the deadly serious Yan is formulating an elaborate plan. This parody of a classic heist film is one of the few new movies released in the age of social distancing, and is available to view online for free on Xigua Video.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Dishonest. Scammers. Complicated. These are the responses people typically give when asked for their impression of real estate agents. Though seemingly lurking on every street corner, the besuited workers of this fast-changing industry reveal their side of the story for the first time in this six-episode documentary series. Available on Tencent Video, each 19-minute long episode focuses mainly on the experience of a single agent—out of 150 interviewed for the series—as they navigate the pressure to sign the first deal, the price of being honest in a shady market, and the general disdain society shows toward them.

DU FU: CHINA’S GREATEST POET

Written and presented by Michael Wood, BBC 4’s documentary on the renowned Tang poet follows Du Fu from birth to death. A young genius eager to serve his country, Du experienced setbacks in pursuing a career in government. Sir Ian McKellen recites translations of Du’s works as the poet experiences the descent of the once prosperous Tang into war and chaos, reflecting Du’s deeply rooted understanding of history, his sympathy for ordinary people, and his “cultural sorrow” at the decline of a once-great civilization. - LIU JUE (刘珏)