Examining the role of film in predicting, reflecting and proffering solutions in Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

Since its emergence in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic has substantially impacted the film industry. Cinemas and movie  theatres across the world were closed, festivals cancelled or postponed, and film releases were moved to future dates or delayed indefinitely. After  months of ease of lockdown, its effect is still being felt due to the resurging variants in some parts of the world. However, despite its lethal effects on the  financial returns and the slow pace of film production, the Covid-19 pandemic could not tame the power of film to predict, reflect, document, and proffer  solutions. In this regard, four movies were selected across different genres from the major film industries around the world. Content analysis was  deployed in examining Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion (2011), Netflix’s Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak (2020), Emeka Jonathan’s Corona Palliative  (2020) and Nanfu Wang’s In The Same Breath (2021) to ascertain how films predicted, reflected and proffered solutions to the Covid-19 global  health crisis. Findings revealed that in the prediction of the Covid-19 pandemic, movies forecasted its origin, mode of transmission and severity; in  reflecting, movies went beyond showing the true state of things to investigating the reactions of world leaders, their citizens and how they coped with  the scorching effects of the pandemic and in proffering solutions, health workers’ health and safety, and adequate funding for scientific research and  production of vaccines were emphasised.