On April 22, 2022, the WeChat public account "Forever Strawberry Fields" released a video titled “Voices of April”, which became a symbolic short film of resistance during the Shanghai lockdown and the entire COVID-19 pandemic.
The six-minute video presents a montage of audio clips from over 20 significant events that took place during the first half of April, at the height of the Shanghai lockdown. These audio fragments are overlaid with aerial footage of the city under lockdown. Despite strict censorship, the video was widely shared by netizens across Chinese and international social media platforms, sparking waves of relay-style reposts and inspiring numerous derivative works.
Original caption from the WeChat post:
"It has been a month since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Shanghai. I've seen countless voices online — most of them disappeared not long after they appeared. As time went on, I grew numb. But some things should never have happened, and if they did, they should never be forgotten.
So many fellow citizens suffered in ways that could have been avoided. How did it come to this, even with so much support from all over the country?
In April 2022, those in Shanghai who could stay home and not go hungry were already among the lucky ones. As a filmmaker, after personally experiencing it all, I would feel guilty if I did nothing.
Due to time constraints, I selected portions of audio from more than 20 incidents in early April. Fortunately, I also had access to a drone to capture current footage of the surroundings. I made this video as a relatively objective and truthful record — to remember the voices of April. I hope everyone makes it through."
Full article on the mass takedown of “Voices of April” related videos: