the lens of photographer. cultural life has come to a standstill in china as the country tries to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus china's top landmarks including the forbidden city and the great wall are closed to the public disneyland has also shut down in both hong kong and shanghai and most movie theaters have also closed their doors during a period that's normally a bare busiest time of year the world's 2nd biggest movie industry is down by 99 percent over last year. and my colleague scott roxboro is here to talk more about the cultural impact of coronavirus scott this virus is obviously very scary but for a lot of people it's also pretty boring people are basically stuck at home they

don't have the entertainment they're used to they can't go to concerts they can't go to movies how are people coping yeah no i mean this is quite severe a lot of people are staying home either because they have to or because they want to because they're scared to go out but of course people find a way to amuse themselves they find a way to to connect and of course a lot of that's happening now through social media in which is sort of the epicenter of of the crisis of people in a tenement apartment buildings some are are getting together now on their balconies and singing together at night singing together and chanting fights of keep up spirits be the course of filming these are social media. and see even little kids are getting involved. and this this family here they posted this video of a traditional chinese game that usually is played in the streets during new year's celebrations course they can't go on the streets so they recreated it at home and yet people course are finding ways to musings of boredom inspires creativity this

lays them online for posting videos of how she's coping you know what my favorite is this one how she's the ice in your freezer. ok well boredom does create creativity as you say let's talk about cultural industries in china which are huge what's the impact going to be on down i mean it's already been quite severe we'll see how long the crisis last of course but i mention movies and that's where we're seeing direct impact on the estimates already over a 1000000000 dollars a lost in box office revenue but some studios in china are thinking old people are staying home they have to stay home but we give them something to watch so one big studio is take one of its big blockbusters and it was going to release in theaters theaters are closed now so it's releasing it online for free films and. a comedy it's called lost in russia it's about a middle aged guy who's traveling with his overbearing mother across russia it was a spectacle is billions of dollars at the in theaters instead they released it online for free with ads it's looks like it's a success though and

a lot of companies are looking to copy it there are several other big studio films that are looking to do the same thing a jackie chan an action film this could be very significant because streaming so far hasn't had a big impact the movie going in china is going still quite new there people still like to go to the movies but this could be a turning point especially these big films on really success at home people get used to watching big films at home ok so the coronavirus could mean more streaming and china now another thing that people can do from home of course is play video games what's been the impact there surprisingly or ironically video games which has become incredibly popular since the outbreak and it's called plague ink plague plague like as in black plague the game it's an online game basically you create a virus and then you infect a country and try to spread around the world sounds like a bit of gallows humor. but since the outbreak of the virus it's become the most popular game downloaded in china i mean it could be a way of coping right you've got this crisis outside your window maybe playing this

game interact or think a bit about it without really directly confronting ok i don't want to judge but i did. go rocks for a thanks so much for joining us and. we now come to a tale of friendship murder betrayal and salvation canadian author s.e. and do john's novel washington black tells the story of a young man who escapes slavery and goes on to explore the globe dujon ranks among the few western authors who write historical fiction about black characters this one her 3rd novel was shortlisted for the booker prize and is now being made into a t.v. series. see the do j. has become a leading movie. an area of canadian literature she belongs to a new generation of novelists exploring north america's painful past. her most recent novel washington black is the extraordinary story of

a young slave who flees captivity. but t.v. adaptation is currently in development. of george washington wash black is a young slave in barbados who becomes an assistant to an eccentric inventor together they escape a sugar plantation and a homemade hot air balloon. ringback ringback their fantastical journey takes them to the canadian arctic london and eventually morocco. what was the inspiration for the story. i did an article about black scientists i was really struck by the fact that when i put the words sort of like africa. or african american you know these kinds of keywords into a search engine with science of scientists that you know what i came up with mostly about black people as being the subjects of science or within science but i was able to take some of that i was. you know like the inventor of the modern traffic

light was a black man. what would a young black man in the 19th century have done with his freedom these were the ideas that intrigue. but why did she make her protagonist male i think male histories. are have been unfortunately privileged over female histories and so a lot of what you do you come across as about men. and they're. basically how they. directed the course of events and so that's been 11 thing but i also i also think that writing from a perspective that is totally unlike my own is what's allowed me to get outside. my experience and really put myself into somebody else and it gives me a kind of. distance in order to express concerns that are actually very personal to me. i see it to jim's parents immigrated to canada from ghana

before she was born. both cultures are part of her she says. but when she visited donna 13 years ago she was surprised by how foreign she felt. feel like you have a strong sense of what it means to be a canadian and what ghana is like because you've been eating in food and listening to languages but when i went to ghana it was a familiarity to a lot of this the details obviously because i i had been so immersed in the culture was but little 5 little things that came up and sort of brought home to me just how canadian i really. otherness' identity these are themes that preoccupied esi e'sdugyan throughout her career as a writer beginning with her debut novel the 2nd life of samuel time it follows the

fortunes of a canadian immigrant in 1960 s. canada. the protagonist of her 2nd novel half blood blues is her on a must for the trumpet player in a jazz band in nazi germany who has a german mother and an african father. the idea for half blood blues came to the writer when she was living in germany on a scholarship. one thing that i'm struck by i'm always struck by when i returned is like the great love of the arts and the great respect especially country like germany has for the arts and so i'm always really. amazed to come here and and see what. reference people have for the arts. and a fascination with the stories they tell. se to do to a writer who eloquently shows how the trauma of slavery lies just beneath the

surface of contemporary life. stephanie fuller is widely recognized as one of the world's leading landscape photographers his images play on the drama of light and shade in nature but a fellow is also fascinated by architecture particularly abandoned structures he says he loves the rush of adrenaline they give him we tagged along with him on some shoots in the out. ruins and deserted places have always held a magical fascination that make us wonder who lived here and what happened to them . defend a fella and his friend felix. explore places like this and research the history. of the super perfect here you can clearly see the

roof has caved in the windows are broken it's essence of the planet or is crumbling from the walls all together it makes for some beautiful photos. tooth. built in the 1920 s. this complex served as a summer camp until it was abandoned in the night 170 s. with his photos stephanie hate her choice to capture the feeling of spooky in charm the places like this inspire in him. a fellow has been fascinated by abandoned structures since childhood and he's published his discoveries in a book of photos once splendid villains. first world war bunker those. chapels. and factories where no machine has operated for decades he doesn't say exactly where he finds the abandoned buildings so they won't be overrun by other visitors

most of the sites are difficult to reach and many are dangerous juta the advanced state of decay for that reason hay for that never sets out. pay for finds some of his locations by scanning satellite photos on the internet. postings from here you can see the places abandoned doesn't even have a roof. it can be just that simple reality is that more of it's harder you can browse certain blogs on the subject how can you can find balance those that still have been tagged roofs and are still nice on the inside and there's nothing more to see here or you happen to pass by i don't find so much chance. definite have those photos document traces of civilization time and tonight show is gradually a raising his works are a kind of monument to a crisis. thanks for joining us on

arts and culture and don't forget you can find us anytime on the web at g.w. dot com slash culture or follow us on facebook and twitter just look for t w culture we hope you have an inspiring or you can see here again next time.

africa. love and warmth is the way to save listen endangered species. bills are threatened by environmental destruction. a south african project tries to protect the baby birds mother them by. but there's nothing to stop nature from calling eco africa. 90 minutes on d w. this is it breaks it is really happening great britain is leaving the european union just 3 years of tough negotiations deeply divided country. much worse for a few generations from a play. time to say good bye to our breaks this special edition. sunday tell me the lead.

up. to. change the world. the cry for freedom and the fight for freedom were always accompanied by music listening. to. transcend dreams bring us together. our 2 part documentary about the revolutionary power of. st martin john. songs like the time go away stay with us for all time highs. cut the sound of fresh starts february 7th on t.w. . play.

play. play . this is you know what he. more countries warn against going to china because of the coronavirus the us is one of the nations countries to tell it says and not to travel to china where some 10000 people are now inspectors the world health organization has declared the current a virus outbreak a global on. the coming off the u.k. bids a low key factor well to the european union prime minister forrest told sudan his cabinet meets in the region the 1st declared fulbright state in the reference.