You can't make that up..
"Blame" – when the only critical words about Shi Zhengli and Peter Daszak come from a Chinese journalist.💥
Jane Qiu visibly feels uncomfortable. It seems to her as if she is participating in propaganda, she says'
In contrast, Variety has a surrealist article:
"Oscar-nominated Swiss director Christian Frei began to experience a feeling that “those who warned us would eventually be the ones who are blamed.
This sentiment, which he calls an “epiphany,” is at the heart of “Blame”.
For the inside story, Frei contacted Daszak at end of 2020, to discuss a film project (initially called 'Host').
Shi Zhengli and Linfa Wang, as well as Quammen, were looped in Sep 2020.
Then the cast of Daszak, the great Markolin (!!), Jane Qiu, Linfa Wang, Supaporn, was put in place by 2 Dec 2022.
@emilyakopp @R_H_Ebright @janeqiuchina @NZZWissen
2022 was when travel was easier, and the filming was able to proceed.
👉🏻 The operation was part of the 'Positive engagement strategy' of Daszak.
@JaEsf @Tantalite @NolwennLF @zeynep
👉🏻 That strategy included trips for journalists in fall 2022, at a time when Daszak had a problem with poached Lao samples that ended up in Latinne et al.
A proposed Addendum did not work out, resulting in a retraction/republication which wiped out the intermediate peer-reviews.
More details of the filming in 2022. and post-production in 2023.
Also:
👉🏻 25 Feb 2023: 'whatsapp christian [Frei] and philip [Markolin?] re. filming the man who loved China, the hare with the golden eye' [some heavy references here]
👉🏻 Frei visited EHA offices in April 2023. @NZZWissen
When Daszak became a 'martyr', the name was changed from 'Host' to 'Blame'.
Quite a bit of a love-fest. Complete lack of distance to the subject.
Using one's brain instead of one's political emotions would have resulted in a better documentary, not a soapy propaganda piece.
Some more details here on the filming:
@NZZWissen
Separate thread for the heavy references in one of the tweets above:
NZZ: nzz.ch/feuilleton/bla…
Variety: variety.com/2025/film/glob…
You can read the unrolled version of this thread here: typefully.com/gdemaneuf/qCrI…
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