The production of an upcoming documentary by B.C. filmmakers led to a new short film detailing the crew's departure from China.
As the coronavirus spread, Chris Winters and Brian Hockenstein decided to leave the country ahead of their scheduled Tuesday (Feb. 11) return — but were caught in a snowstorm.
Winters and Hockenstein, who are both based in Squamish, were in the remote village of Kohm in the Altay Mountains filming for their upcoming documentary Snow Hunters.
"We were prepared for many difficulties, both cultural and political, however, we had no contingency plan in place when there was a sudden outbreak of coronavirus," Winters, the project's executive producer, said in a news release.
"Once it became apparent that the outbreak was spreading quickly we decided as a team to abort the project early and find a way home to North America."
"To complicate our escape efforts, a large snowstorm was keeping transportation officials from reaching us as they needed to travel over multiple mountain passes that were blocked by recent avalanches," said director of photography, Hockenstein.
Over 50 kilometres of tunnels were dug through the snow, and the clearance finally allowed the filmmakers to drive to the airport with a police escort.
In the short film, the filmmakers describe the 12-hour drive, which they said is usually five hours, as an intense experience.
"It was only after passing through dozens of other similar tunnels over the next few hours that we realized the immense scope of the snow removal efforts all for the benefit of our team's evacuation from the village."
They detail their departure in a short film, Coronavirus Escape.
