The Covid price of spice

Documentaries about the aftershock of Covid lockdown have been ten-a-penny recently, but few offer as tender and, heartbreakingly, as timely a snapshot as this impressive short from filmmaker Jia Li.

Speaking to Wendy Li, owner of New York Chinatown institution Spicy Village and recipient of accolades from the likes of celebrity chefs, the Village Voice, and the Michelin Guide, the film explores both the history of the brand and the effects of the pandemic, all tied intrinsically to Li's own emotions and experience.

Touching on the xenophobia and overt racism that has had tragic repercussions recently, the film navigates the (relative) positives and (staggering) negatives of survival in such uncertain times, as showcases the natural talents of cross-cultural documentary collective HiLo as they tightly tell the story.