Room 404

A never-ending typhoon outside of room 525 in Hong Kong has transposed the artist duo into an unsettling situation of digital error of 404 in the present time. Originally taking their inspiration from the concept of Room 666 by Wim Wenders, Elysa Wendi and Wai Shing Lee invited various artists to the hotel room 525 during an art residency in 2019. Being affected by the situation of social movements in the city, they began to question the function of artists, or rather filmmakers like themselves, in times like this. Room 404 is an essayistic response to the documentary Room 525 shot by the same artists. The film marks the transition from documentary to essay, from the real space of the room to the reality marked by the most common error of the digital age, 404: file not found. The desire to express the objective truth of the situation, which drove the makers to experience the calamity as it unraveled, gives way to the doubt that permeates the situation that emerges in the post-calamity state. (Berlinale)