A Cidade e os Mapas: new film by Alexandra Guimarães and Gonçalo L. Almeida portrays a transforming Porto

The streets of Porto recently became the backdrop for the documentary A Cidade e os Mapas, the latest film by Alexandra Guimarães and Gonçalo L. Almeida, produced by Olhar de Ulisses. The narrative follows the daily life of Akash, a young Bengali delivery rider who navigates the city on a motorbike, guided by the digital maps of a delivery platform. Through his journey — marked by errant routes and unforeseen detours — the film offers a reading of the city.

Inspired by the fable by Jorge Luís Borges, Sobre o Rigor da Ciência — in which an empire creates a map so precise it coincides exactly with the territory — the filmmaker duo questions how digital maps have become instruments of power. “It seemed like the perfect image to reflect on how digital platforms, each with their own map, are changing cities and the ways we live in them,” they explain.

The choice to feature a delivery rider as the protagonist was not merely aesthetic, but political. “When we met Akash, we immediately knew we wanted to film with him. He had a powerful way of speaking about the precariousness imposed by the platforms, but at the same time he was enchanted by the city,” the duo recalls. Akash arrived in Porto during the pandemic and knows every street like the back of his hand.

The film proposes an alternative cartography of the city, constructed through 360º cameras that follow the rider in motion. The imagery — reminiscent of Street View or a video game — dissolves the boundaries between the physical and the digital, allowing the editing process to decide “where to look, how to look.” This approach not only reinforces a contemplative gaze, but also underscores the surveillance and control embedded in contemporary images.

But the map is not neutral, and the territories it covers are far from static. “Digital platforms, which operate based on maps, are radically transforming how we live in our cities and defining who has the right to them and who is left on the margins. The contemporary city is a data factory, passively fed by us — we go from citizens to consumers. But for these services to exist, a precarious sub-world emerges, made up of immigrant labour and undefined shifts,” the filmmakers warn.

One of the most striking moments took place near Rua do Loureiro, where one of the city’s two mosques is located. There, the team uncovered an urban redevelopment plan that threatens to turn the neighbourhood into a “luxury tourism hub,” with the consequent eviction of residents and closure of the mosque. “When we found that out, we felt an even greater urgency to film there. The film began to be reconfigured.”

During filming, the directors also joined guided walks by architect Pedro Figueiredo — who leads people on long walks through the city, creating a counter-map of Porto that speaks to the history of housing since the late 19th century — through bairros do SAAL, ilhas, and forgotten corners of the city.

More than a documentary about Porto, A Cidade e os Mapas offers a reflection on how a city transforms in the era of digital globalisation — a film about those who inhabit it, about tourism and gentrification, about immigration and housing. “We often hear: ‘everything’s so different now.’ But no one really knows what’s happening, or how to stop it. This film is an attempt to name the forces that are reshaping cities from within and pushing us further apart.”

Premiering next year at Porto/Post/Doc, the film won the Working Class Heroes grant in 2024, a project funded by Filmaporto and Fundação La Caixa, and supported by the ICA.