[2][3] The film documents happenings in the city of Wuhan, China during the global COVID-19 pandemic, and how the country's government and citizens have responded to and been impacted by the outbreak.

Ai directed the film remotely from Europe, with dozens of volunteers and paid crews covertly gathering footage inside hospitals, homes, and quarantine zones across China.

[2][4] Ai, who lives in Europe, remotely directed dozens of volunteers and paid crews across China who gathered the footage used in Coronation.

[2] Ai also said that Amazon and Netflix rejected the film, and he suggested that the documentary was turned down by the aforementioned festivals and companies in order for them to maintain business relationships in China.

[2] A Netflix spokesperson responded by stating that Netflix is producing its own documentary about COVID-19, and a press officer for the New York Film Festival wrote in an email that "we want to emphasize that political pressures do not and have never played a role in the festival's curatorial selection.