COVID-19 – A Virus with (In)visible Social Consequences

The pandemic has forced the entire society to adapt to new living conditions in a very short period of time, and such a speed of adaptation brings with it immeasurable consequences.

In the first wave of the pandemic, the emphasis was on health, attention was focused on finding answers to questions about how we can protect ourselves and others.
What are these types of masks? What disinfectants? Who should you avoid contact with? How many days in self-isolation are enough? And which week is crucial? 

It was only when we found the answers to these questions and adapted to the new living conditions that we began to open questions regarding the psychosocial well-being of the individual and society as a whole. We began reflecting on the psychological state of people of all ages, and especially on the impact on young people.
How much has the rate of anxiety and depression increased? How much has the rate of domestic violence increased? And how do we proceed once this pandemic is over? 

Turning the spotlight to the young, director Charlotte Ballet-Baz in her film Teenage Lockdown Tales tells the story of Eva, Julien, Grégory, Nawell and Eve, all senior high school students at the Lycée Viollet-le-Duc in the Parisian suburbs. This film, which began as a video diary, shows an intimate portrait of adolescence in the pandemic-marked year of 2020, in France. 

If we want to go back to the beginning of the pandemic, then we go back to the place and where it all started. In the film Coronation, Ai Weiwei shows amateur footage secretly filmed by ordinary citizens showing the reality of life in the closed city of Wuhan, its empty streets and strictly guarded health facilities. The film questions whether it is more important to preserve the personal freedom of individuals or the health of the entire society during a pandemic.  

A topic even closer to the Croatian context, together with the coronavirus, is certainly the earthquake. Director Marko Bičanić in his title Last Days of the Year brings us the story of thirteen-year-old Mateo who enjoys the winter holidays. The festive mood that has already been marked by a pandemic is also affected by the devastating earthquake that hit the neighbouring county. 

Sara Alavanić in the interesting title Do You Feel Nervous when I Approach You shows what her first self-isolation, which was not voluntary, looked like. Sara concludes that it takes only one more apocalypse for her family to get closer. 

In The Reality of Confnement with a Four-Year-Old, director Pol Mallafré and his partner tell us about their fifteen days spent in isolation due to the coronavirus. An honest and hilarious story about the ups and downs in family captivity which does not hide the fatigue, daily routines, reconciliation, obstacles, boredom and addiction to social networks. 

Finally, with the film directed by Bela Bračko – Milešević, God on Wheels, we get an insight into what the rite of the holy mass in Završje Netretićki looks like at the time of restrictions imposed by the new pandemic situation.