E-motion-Al City, directed by Tszwai So, is an art film presented by Chinachem Group as its entry for the Venice Biennale of Architecture 2021. The film responds to the main theme of the Biennale set out by Chief Curator Hashim Sarkis: How will we live together? It also responds to Hong Kong Chapter’s theme: Redistribution of Land, People and Environment.

The film is an artistic interpretation of Chinachem Group’s “Peoplecentric” ethos; it calls for a reconnection to what makes us human in the first place. We are an emotional species and we need to address the growing disconnect between understanding and feeling a sense of a ourselves and other people in this digital age.

In the film, the cinematographer invites viewers to “drift through” the visually arresting man-made landscape of Tsuen Wan, from the 200-yearold Sam Tung Uk to its remarkable footbridges, or the mesmerizing industrial buildings to the futuristic skyline. In so doing, the viewer rediscovers a tactile city that stimulates all our senses, stirs our emotions, and is filled with our private and collective memories.

This is an intimate portrayal of the sincerest human experience in a city through the eyes of the two-year-old Cho Yu and young artist UUendy Lau. While mankind is sleepwalking into an algorithm-driven urban future controlled by AI, the two flâneuses (wanderers and observers of city) drift through the urban landscape of diverse feelings, within which they rediscover beauty and authenticity. Through their imagination we perceive a city differently and reflect on how we can rebuild real relationships with one another in this digital age.