back washington now being made into a t.v. series. and we'll explore the abandoned buildings and ruins of the alps through the lens of photographer stefan before the. 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 their busiest time of year the world's 2nd biggest movie industry is down by 99 percent over last year. and my colleague scott rock spirit 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 other 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 connect and of course a lot of that's happening now through social media in rwanda which is the epicenter 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 and fights of spirits be the course of filming these for 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 of course they can't go in the street so they recreated it at home yeah and people course are finding ways to muses of boredom inspires creativity and this this is something like they must online for posting videos of how she's coping you know what my favorite is this one how she's 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 you mentioned movies and that's where we've seen direct impact of 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 studios take one of its big blockbusters and it was going to this is 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

expect those billions of dollars at the in theaters instead they reduce that 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 including 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 this movie going still quite new there people still like to go to the movies but this could be a turning point especially these big films finally 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 who has become incredibly popular since the since the outbreak and it's called plague inc 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 interact or think a bit about it without really directly confronting ok i don't want to judge but i did. 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. adu jones 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. and see it has become a leading luminary 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. by t.v. adaptation is currently in development. george washington 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 scientists i was really struck by the fact that when i put the word sort of african. or african american. words into a search engine with science of scientists that you know what i came up with mostly

about black people being the subjects of science or within science i was able to. enter a modern traffic like 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. maker 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 $11.00 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 of 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. and see it do 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 you know because you've been eating in food and listening to canadian 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 that sort of brought home to me just how canadian i really. otherness

identity these are themes that are 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 wanna miss 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. struck by i'm always struck by when i return is like the great love of the arts and the great respect specially country like germany has for the arts and so i'm really. amazed to come here and see what reference people have for the arts and protests.

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. stefan haflinger 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 he 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 . and hey fella and his friend felix. explore places like

this and research their histories. you know the super perfect here you can clearly see the roof is caved in the windows are broken it's a sense of the planet or is it crumbling from the walls this is all together it makes for some beautiful photos. teeth. built in the 1920 s. this complex served as a summer camp until it was abandoned in the 970 s. with his photos stephanie choice to capture the feeling of spooky in charm the places like this inspire in him. pay for has been fascinated by abandoned structures since childhood he's published his discoveries in a book of photos once splendid villas. first world war bunkers. chapels.

and factories where no machine has operated for decades and he doesn't say exactly where he finds the abandoned buildings so they would be overrun by other visitors most of the sites are difficult to reach and many are dangerous jew to the advanced state of decay for that reason hay for that never sets out. ok for now find some of his locations by scanning satellite photos on the internet it's. listings for the peer you can see the places abandoned doesn't even have a roof. it can be just that simple it's harder you can browse certain blogs on the subject than you can find a lot so that's still an attack route sooner still nice on the inside there's nothing more to see here or you happen to pass a bar you can find something by chance. photos document traces of

civilization that time and nature is gradually a raising his works are a kind of monument to abandon places. thanks for joining us on arts and culture and don't forget you can find us any. i'm 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 weekend serug on next time.

it is done critics say has finally happens just 3 years of uncertainty great britain has left the. deeply divided country needs much more for future generations remains how did we get here come on and bumpy road to bring. in 30 minutes on d w. a lot of the snow now and that is winter fun. located over there it's the winter sports center of the elgar region. is on his way to the top coming down is easy enough. because she has also come to this alpine winter wonderland the snow hikes are bad has gotten and explore some of the best bavaria

has to offer chicken. 90 minutes on d w. 3 up to date don't miss our highlights. program online w dark. highlights. every journey begins with the 1st step and every language with the 1st word published in the book. nico is in germany to learn german why not live with him it's simple online on your mobile and free shops a d w z learning course nikos fake german made easy. you're going to want to fishel estimates more than 1200000 venezuelans live in colombia legally and illegally. i'd return to. visit friends is that i don't think i'd ever go back there to live you know what i

live there again i don't know so i'm not sure. bearing witness global news that matters. made for mines. this is the the views live from berlin the united kingdom formally leads the european union. celebrations are robbed at the exact moment grex that comes into effect but much uncertainty remains over what exactly comes next. also coming up to vote shy

democrats hoping to call witnesses and president trump impeachment trial are defeated in the senate clearing the way for trump's almost see.