TAXIFILMFEST

Lonely City

Admin — 2025-03-16T20:34:26Z

SHORT:
Taxi driver Zhang Zhiyong drives around the city, picking up a variety of passengers. Among them are a woman who comes from outside the city and is looking for her husband, a young internet celebrity who is searching for her father, and a security guard who is scattering his father's ashes in the river. Each passenger carries their own unspoken loneliness, and Zhang Zhiyong also has his own story. His taxi is a journey through life itself.

LANG:
Cab driver Zhang Zhiyong lives alone in Chongqing and has made his car his home. He takes a variety of passengers, each with their own story.

Chapter 1: Strangers whose paths cross

He Xi, a woman from Inner Mongolia, takes Zhang's car while searching for her husband Jiang Wei, who left home years ago. When she finally finds him, she discovers that he has been transformed by an MCN agency into a popular livestreamer known as ‘Wandering Master', who attracts millions of followers. Surrounded by a crowd on the riverbank, he seems like a character in an absurd theatre play. He Xi and Jiang Wei face each other in silence, and then she leaves, heartbroken.

Chapter 2: The House Underwater

Security guard Lao Liu's hometown in Fengjie was flooded during the construction of the Three Gorges Dam. After the death of his father, Zhang and Lao Liu travel together to return his father's ashes. Since his hometown is now underwater, Lao Liu has to board a boat from the resettlement site to the waterline. Using modern measuring equipment, he locates the position of his former home, scatters his father's ashes in the river, pays his respects on the shore, and hopes that his father can return home.

Chapter 3: The Rising River, from the afternoon

Zhang wanders the streets and meets his nephew Xiao Wu, who has run away from school. Xiao Wu asks Zhang to help him find his father, whom he has never met. Years ago, Xiao Wu's father worked on river boats and eventually divorced his mother. Together, Zhang and Xiao Wu search along the river and eventually find Xiao Wu's father's new wife and child on an extravagant ship called the Mount Fuji. The stepmother tells Xiao Wu that his father has gone to sea, which makes Xiao Wu sad.
Through their conversations, we learn that Zhang left his hometown after losing his own child in a fire caused by an evil nanny. Xiao Wu reveals that Zhang's ex-wife has since remarried and is expecting another child, encouraging Zhang to move past his grief. Zhang drives off as the streetlights come on, casting a warm glow on the interior of his car.

Director's Biography – Zhidan G奥

Director Gao Zhidan has a master's degree in directing from the School of Theatre, Film and Television at the Communication University of China and also studied at the Department of Literature at the Beijing Film Academy. Gao is a member of the Theoretical Criticism Committee of the China Film Association, a member of the Fujian Film Script Creation Research Center and a lecturer in the Department of Film and Television Arts at the School of Communication at Fujian Normal University.

Director's comment

This is a story about searching: a wife searches for her husband, a security guard searches for his lost hometown, a son searches for his father. In this strange and complex time, we may not be searching for a specific person, but for a clearer understanding of ourselves – who we are, where we come from and where we are going. Through these stories, we seek to reflect on the transformative events of the last few decades in Chinese history, while also presenting the survival experiences of people in our digital age.
The three groups of passengers embody three generations – people born in the 1970s, 1980s and 2000s – ordinary people who reflect the larger temporal backdrop. Each of them carries traces of the era's memory: the layoffs, the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, the one-child policy – all of which resonate subtly in the background of the story. Together, they embark on a journey along the river, uncovering themes of life and identity.

Zhidan G奥: director, screenwriter
Jing Shen: producer
Cast
Pengfei Yu: ‘Zhang Zhiyong'
Yun Gao: ‘He Xi'
Yihong Ou: ‘Xiaowu'

Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Completion date: 8 October 2024
Country of origin: China
Language: Chinese
Format: digital
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Film colour: colour

View online : https://filmfreeway.com/submissions...

Wat Neuet im Westen / Ruins

Admin — 2025-03-16T20:29:03Z

Wat Neuet im Westen (engl. ‘Ruins') is a vivid documentary film about four artists and their memories of West Berlin's idiosyncratic bar scene in the 1970s and 80s. While bartender and painter Jo Schmejkal delves into the depths of the underground, author Willi Gettél and painter Horst-Dieter Keitel provoke a press scandal, and video artist Knut Hoffmeister captures the scene with his Super 8 camera.

Director's Biography – Daya Lavine Sieber, Anna Herrmann

Daya Lavine Sieber, born 1994 in Munich, studied art history, philosophy and media studies. During and after her master's degree, she worked as a research assistant, freelance journalist, editor and in various cultural fields. Since 2021, she has been studying documentary film and television journalism at the University of Television and Film Munich and working for the Süddeutsche Zeitung. In her work as a filmmaker, she likes to focus on people with unusual life choices and how they engage with sub- and pop-cultural phenomena.

Anna Herrmann is an actress and artist from Berlin. Since the age of eleven, she has appeared in numerous films and television series. In 2014, she graduated from the Berlin University of the Arts with a degree in fine arts and later completed an acting training at the University of Music and Theatre in Leipzig. In her artistic work, she likes to combine different art forms in innovative ways.

The directors on their film

When we first heard Jo Schmejkal's stories about the legendary bar ‘Ruine' in West Berlin in the 70s and 80s, we were fascinated. These tales, full of wild energy and eccentric characters, opened a window into a time and place often overlooked in mainstream narratives. Our colleague Laurine Irmer introduced us to Jo Schmejkal, one of our protagonists, and accompanied us throughout our long research process, making a significant contribution to the script. What began as a fascination with one man's memories soon developed into a vibrant mosaic of voices, memories and archive fragments from a vibrant but complex bar scene.

Daya Lavine has always been interested in uncovering hidden histories. In her previous film, ‘Sugar Tracks', she explored Munich's nightlife during the same period and was further fascinated by the untold stories of subcultural movements in German cities. For Anna, who grew up in Berlin, the city's complex past and its colourful personalities have always been a source of inspiration.

Together, we wanted to piece together this puzzle – not only as a historical artefact, but as a reflection of the creativity and struggles of a generation shaped by the shadows of post-war Germany.

Daya Lavine Sieber: director, writer, producer
Anna Herrmann: director, writer
Laurine Irmer: writer
Liam Wölfer: producer
Luca Riedel: Producer
Hana Reintges: Cinematographer
Marian Marx: Editor

Project title (original language): Wat Neuet im Westen
Project type: Documentary, experimental, short, student project
Runtime: 30 minutes 43 seconds
Completion date: 31 October 2024
Country of origin: Germany
Country of shooting: Germany
Language: German
Shooting format: Digital
Aspect ratio: 1:1.66
Film colour: Colour
First-time filmmaker: No
Student project: Yes – University of Television and Film Munich

View online : https://filmfreeway.com/submissions...

Es geht um Luis / It's about Luis

Admin — 2025-03-16T20:23:36Z

This powerful family drama, based on the play ‘El pequeño poni' by Paco Bezerra, tells the story of a couple struggling with the challenges of modern family life. Max Riemelt and Natalia Rudziewicz shine in the leading roles as a permanently stressed married couple juggling between career and family life.

When their ten-year-old son Luis is bullied at school because of his purple unicorn backpack, the parents find themselves in a conflict over social norms and the protection of their child.
Chiarla stages most of the action in the confined space of a taxi, which becomes a conflict zone for the parents, with urgency and subtle humour.

This innovative approach creates an intense atmosphere that draws viewers into the family's emotional turmoil. ES GEHT UM LUIS is a moving exploration of topics such as identity, bullying and parental responsibility.

Director: Lucia Chiarla
Cast: Max Riemelt, Natalia Rudziewicz, Franziska Troegner, Ruben Dietze, Aziz Capkurt, Yun Huang

Contact/Distribution: https://across-nations.de/projekte/es-geht-um-luis/

Premiere 2024

View online : https://across-nations.de/projekte/...

Taximan

Admin — 2025-03-16T19:59:51Z

Honourable Mention

Taximan is one of six films that we consider particularly successful and significant alongside the winners of the 2nd Taxifilmfest 2025.

Taximan is a masterly example of the art of omission. We experience an encounter reduced to the essentials, as it could take place in principle between passenger and driver in any taxi. The fact that the world's theatre is playing in the back seat of the taxi is so touchingly presented by Taximan that the film became the darling of the taxi film festival team at first glance. An intimate play with great lighting and a cautiously optimistic outcome.

Plot

A stranded alcoholic and a mysterious taxi driver go on a slightly different kind of road trip.

Team

Leander Behal: director, writer, producer
Nicola Herrmann: producer
Lucas Heinze: cinematographer
Eric Baudler: editor
Mia Prahl: costume designer
Sebastian Schulz: sound
Hana Reintges: assistant cameraperson
Linus Berberich: gaffer

Cast

Michaela Behal: ‘Doris'
Lee Reimers: 'Taximan'

Leander Behal (born in 1998 in Berlin, Germany) is a director with a penchant for surrealism, magical realism and black humour. He is currently studying feature film directing under Maren Ade (Toni Erdmann) at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.

Director's statement
Doris and the taxi driver are sensitive and conflicted individuals with a tortured past. They are outsiders who want to escape the reality that has almost broken them. It seems as though they have completely lost contact with society. And in turn, society has shunned them. The question is whether they can save each other. If not, no one will.

‘Taximan' has a hopeful message. Even in the darkest days, the power of friendship can lead us to a better future.

Project type: short film, student project
Genres: road movie, dramatic comedy
Runtime: 9 minutes 19 seconds
Completion date: 23 March 2022
Production budget: €600
Country of Origin: Germany
Country of Shooting: Germany
Language: German
Shooting Format: DCI 4K
Aspect Ratio: 1.9:1
Film Colour: Colour
First-time Filmmaker: No
Student Project: Yes – Freie Universität Berlin

View online : https://filmfreeway.com/submissions...

Taxi In Time

Admin — 2025-03-16T19:59:25Z

Honourable Mention

Taxi In Time is one of six films that we consider particularly successful and significant alongside the winners of the 2nd Taxi Film Festival 2025.

Taxi In Time made us laugh like almost no other film at the 2nd Taxifilmfest 2025. Like a rollercoaster, the film races with its viewers through ever wilder iterations of a crazy porc cycle of business models and technological revolutions. It's obvious from the very first seconds that it can't end well, and it comes to a conclusion that is as plausible as it is impossible. Hilarious.

content

‘Taxi in Time' is a short film parodying Uber's battle against taxis, using an app called “Taxi in Time” that allows you to summon a DeLorean taxi in real time and travel anywhere, anytime... but be careful, it can have unexpected consequences!

Team

Gianluca Fratellini: director, screenwriter, producer
Mario Leone: Screenwriter
Christopher Lloyd: ‘Doc
Dario Penne: “Doc's Italian Voice”
Gianluca Fratellini: “Journalist”

Type: Animation, Experimental, Short, Web/New Media, Other
Genres: Parody, Animation, Short, Science Fiction, Comedy
Runtime: 3 minutes 49 seconds
Completed: 22 June 2018
Production budget: €10,000
Country of Origin: Italy
Country of Shooting: Italy
Language: English, Italian
Shooting Format: Digital
Aspect Ratio: 16:9

Director's Biography – Gianluca Fratellini

Gianluca Fratellini was born in Modugno, Puglia, in 1980 and grew up in Palo del Colle, a small village near Bari. He became interested in 3D at the age of 14 and spent his school days studying the first books on 3D Studio and Autocad. He often visited the office where his father worked and they used Autocad. During the breaks, he used the computers there. After graduating, he went to the University of Informatics, hoping to meet people who shared the same passion and with whom he could exchange information – in vain.

In a few months, he created the short film A Bug's Story (5 minutes) on a very slow computer, with a character similar to A Bug's Life by Pixar. While preparing for his first analysis exam, Oniria Pictures, a company in Luxembourg, sent him an email asking for a demo tape and asking if he would be interested in working on the 3D animated film ‘Tristan & Isolde'. At first, he was shocked by the news and thought it was a bad joke played on him by his friends. He dropped out of university and soon after moved to Luxembourg, where he worked for three years, first as a junior 3D animator on the American TV series ‘Bob's Beach' – 52 episodes of 11 minutes each – and then as a senior 3D animator for the first film, ‘Tristan & Isolde', and then for the second feature film, ‘Renart the Fox', which was realised in 3D with 2D rendering and backgrounds. During those three years, he also made his short film ‘Life in Smoke - Una Vita in Fumo' (8 minutes), working almost every night after work, including Saturdays and Sundays.

Thanks to the constant commitment and emotional support of the people close to him, he was able to successfully complete his short film, which still gives him satisfaction and has won numerous important awards at Italian and European festivals. He worked at Ubisoft Montreal in Montreal, Canada, as a 3D Senior Animator and Layout Supervisor in the Cinematic department for games such as Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia, Rainbow Six, Far Cry, AND 1 Streetball, Surf's Up, etc. He was also a 3D Animation Teacher of level II at Ubisoft's campus organised by Cegep of Matane in Quebec.

He worked at Animal Logic in Sydney, Australia as a 3D character animator on Mumble for the Warner Bros animated feature film ‘Happy Feet'. In England, he worked as a 3D senior animator at Climax. He worked at Ilion Animation Studios in Madrid, Spain, as a 3D character animator on the 3D animated film ‘Planet 51', distributed by New Line Cinema & TriStar Pictures, after working on the commercial for Danone and also as a 3D lead animator on the TV series ‘Glumpers'. He also worked with Double Negative in London as a 3D character animator on the film ‘Paul' starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost for Universal Pictures and on the Disney/Pixar film ‘John Carter' starring Pixar director Andrew Stanton (of Wall-e and A Bug's Life).

He worked at Sony Pictures Imageworks in Vancouver, Canada, as a lead 3D animator on the animated film Hotel Transylvania, directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and produced by Sony Pictures Animation for Columbia Pictures. He is currently working at Blue Sky Studios in New York as a 3D character animator on ‘Epic', ‘Rio 2', ‘Peanuts' and ‘Ice Age 5: Collision Course'.

He worked in London at Framestore on the Walt Disney film Beauty and the Beast, directed by Bill Condon, and the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, directed by James Gunn.
He then worked as a lead animator at Mikros Animation Studio on the animated film Sherlock Gnomes, directed by John Stevenson. He worked as a lead animator at MPC on the new Disney film Dumbo, directed by Tim Burton, Maleficent 2 and The Lion King, directed by John Favreau.

In the meantime, he worked as a 3D lead animator and supervisor for a spot for La Biennale, the ‘76th Venice International Film Festival 2019', for the entire animation of the 3D lion, several commercials for MPC and SWISS and his short films: ‘A Bug's Story' - “Life in Smoke - Una Vita in Fumo” and worked on a new short film.

He worked in London as a 3D animation supervisor for Double Negative on the animation project ‘Ron's Gone Wrong' and is currently working at MPC with Robert Zemeckis as lead 3D animator on the Walt Disney feature film ‘Pinocchio'.

View online : https://filmfreeway.com/submissions...

Salted Black Tea

Admin — 2025-03-16T19:58:59Z

Honourable Mention

Salted Black Tea is one of six films that we consider particularly successful and significant alongside the winners of the 2nd Taxifilmfest 2025.

In Salted Black Tea, we discover an alleged cultural tradition that is in fact a consequence of the colonisation of the Indian subcontinent with deadly consequences. The British colonialists discovered that they could keep the tea pickers working longer by adding salt to their tea to compensate for the electrolytes they lost through sweating. This has become a tradition that, combined with malnutrition, kills scores of women every year in Assam.

The barely noticeable legacy of British colonialism reminds us of the colonisation of Germany and the world by the Googles, Ubers and AirBnBs. Under the pretext of greater efficiency and cheaper offers, living culture, local customs and traditions are being destroyed by exploitative, inhuman technologies and business models. The film Salted Black Tea by Rakesh Ranjan shows how ingrained dangerous attitudes can be combated. It is about knowledge transfer and education.

Plot

The story is about a small tea stall owner named ‘Molly Chaiwala' who works at night on a street in Guwahati. He is quite famous as he has some regular customers who appreciate his salted tea recipes. One day, a motorcyclist accompanied by his sister visits the stand and orders exotic black Assam tea. The motorcyclist is impressed by Molly's tea-making style. But then a shocking truth comes to light.

Team

Rakesh Ranjan Das: Director, Writer, Producer
Subhajit Purkayastha: ‘Molly Chaiwala'
Steward Sangma: ‘Customer 1'
Gautam Sarkar: ‘Customer 2'
Rakesh Ranjan Das: ‘Driver'
Monalisa Das: ‘sister of the driver'
Sunny Bongshiary: ‘customer 3'

Runtime: 6 minutes 42 seconds
Release Date: 10 January 2025
Production Budget: $500
Country of Origin: India
Country of Shooting: India
Language: Hindi
Shooting Format: 35 mm
Aspect ratio: 16:9
Film colour: Colour
First feature: Yes
Student project: No

Director's Biography – Rakesh Ranjan Das

Rakesh Ranjan Das was born and raised in Assam. He began his professional acting career in 2007 when he joined the Nexus Drama Group while completing his Bachelor of Engineering at SSIT Tumkur. The Nexus Group actively participated in festivals organised by the Engineering and Medical colleges and Rakesh won over 18 awards in skits, mime, one-act plays, street theatre and monodramas. He is currently a member of the Script Writer Association (SWA). In 2014, Rakesh took a screenwriting course from Kiran Roa and Aamir Khan. He is also a musician and has played in various Western rock bands in Bangalore, composing songs in Hindi and English. He appeared in two episodes of the famous Assamese television series ‘Beharbari Outpost' in 2023. In October 2024, he played a supporting role in the Assamese feature film ‘Jai Hanuman'. He was one of the assistant directors of the Hindi feature film ‘Mrigayaa', which is expected to be released in cinemas in 2025. In 2024, Rakesh played a supporting role in a short film called ‘Purple', which was submitted for short film awards. ‘Salted Black Tea' is the first film he directed, in December 2024, and will be submitted to various short film awards in 2025.

View online : https://filmfreeway.com/submissions...

Not buried yet

Admin — 2025-03-16T19:58:34Z

Honourable Mention

Not buried yet is one of six films that we consider particularly successful and significant alongside the winners of the 2nd Taxifilmfest 2025.

We are impressed by the fates and images from a country scarred by war. The staging in the smallest of spaces and the simultaneous presentation of the country in which the story takes place are subtle and haunting. They remind us of the reports of our parents and grandparents from the destroyed Germany after 1945, of poverty and tragic entanglements that destroyed families. The film's great achievement is to depict war as a series of inevitable events, the loss of human dignity, grief and the struggle for survival as part of a deeply shaken society.

Plot

Three siblings embark on a journey to their village to bury their deceased father under difficult circumstances. An unexpected event changes the course of their journey and brings the family's hidden secrets to light.

Director's Biography – Alkaseem Ahmad

Al-kassem Ahmed is a Damascus, Syria-based director and cinematographer. He graduated from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in 2019, specialising in audiovisual arts. Ahmed has worked as a lighting and camera operator on numerous commercials and short films, including the short documentary The People Above, which won the Golden Tanit for best short documentary at the 33rd Carthage Film Festival. He has also worked as an assistant director on various films and TV series. Ahmed has also directed two short fiction films: the first, ‘The Last Shot', in 2021, and the second, ‘Not Buried Yet', in 2024.

Team

Alkaseem Ahmad: Director
Ahmad Adra: Screenwriter
Samer Rahhal: Producer
Wael Taha: editor
Basil Sarawliji: cinematographer

Project title (in the original language): لم يدفن بعد
Running time: 21 minutes 8 seconds
Completion date: 30 September 2024
Production budget: 30,000 USD
Country of origin: Syrian Arab Republic
Country of Origin: Syrian Arab Republic
Language: Arabic
Format: Digital
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Colour: Colour

View online : https://filmfreeway.com/submissions...

Wild Horses

Admin — 2025-03-16T19:57:58Z

Honourable Mention

Wild Horses is one of six films that we consider particularly successful and significant alongside the winners of the 2nd Taxi Film Festival 2025.

For taxi drivers, petrol stations are part of their workplace. In this film, unexpected users of this facility appear, who question everything we have experienced at petrol stations. The horsepower of our vehicles is no longer an abstract measure of engine performance, but rather a ‘real' being, a machine that has come to life, existing autonomously, yet still needing to be refuelled. The conclusion of the short film suggests that further unexpected developments await us. The images in the film are almost too perfect, its symbolism is striking.

Synopsis

The film ‘Wild Horses' tells the story of a group of wild horses fighting for survival in the future.

The film was produced using AI generation technology and can be viewed as a science fiction thriller concept film created using the latest AI technology. Although the production of the film is mainly through AI generation technology, the content of the story and the film style are in no way constrained by the technology. It is a short film completed in the form of traditional scriptwriting and filming. From conception to production completion, the film's cycle took two weeks.

Team

Wenjie Lee: Director
Zhengyang Yin: Director
Elsa Zhang: Producer
Zhengyang Yin: Screenwriter

Genres: Mystery, Science Fiction
Runtime: 2 minutes 30 seconds
Completion Date: 20 October 2024
Country of Origin: China
Country of Shooting: China
Language: English
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Film Colour: Colour
First-time filmmaker: No
Student project: No

View online : https://filmfreeway.com/submissions...

Half Soul

Admin — 2025-03-15T08:49:09Z

Honourable Mention

A moitié d'âme is one of six films that we consider to be particularly successful and significant alongside the winners of the 2nd Taxifilmfest 2025.

Although taxis are not the subject of the film, it impressively depicts a situation reminiscent of the fate of taxi drivers impoverished by uberisation, insecurity and exploitation. In reality, the colleagues expropriated by the policy of the Secretary of Transportation Scheuer often have no choice but to go as petitioners to authorities who grant them social benefits like alms in exchange for their soul. This perception of one's own situation, how it makes you sick through hopelessness, has been intensively traced by Marwen Trabelsi.

Content

In a world dominated by materialism and devoid of humanity, selling souls is big business. Suicidal people offer their souls in exchange for a monetary value that is paid to their family. It is the fantastic story of a father who is forced to sell his soul to save the life of his dying daughter.

Director's Biography – Marwen Trabelsi

Marwen Trabelsi is a Tunisian photographer and director.
After studying audiovisual media, he made several experimental films, two fiction films and three documentaries.
His films have earned him numerous national and international awards, including 1st prize at the Douz Doc Days, 1st prize for documentaries at the Cam Film Festival in Egypt in 2015, and four prizes for his last feature film ‘The Man Who Became a Museum', which was made in 2019.

Crew and Cast

Marwen Trabelsi: Director
Marwen Trabelsi: Screenwriter
Hager Nefzi: Producer
Abdelkader Ben Said: ‘Naji'

Runtime: 23 minutes 14 seconds
Completion date: 10 July 2021
Production budget: $15,000
Country of origin: Tunisia
Country of shooting: Tunisia
Language: Arabic
Recording format: 4K
Aspect ratio: 16/9
Film colour: Colour

View online : https://filmfreeway.com/submissions...

Patrick Brontë, Worker

Admin — 2025-02-16T10:42:40Z

A short documentary about the Brontë patriarch's attempt to distance himself from his working-class background, and in doing so, shaping the tastes of his children.
Jordan Hoban: Director, Screenwriter
Haylee Ziegler: Producer
Thommy Underhill: Music
Cast
Matt Haugh
Melanie Wilder
Runtime: 4 minutes 55 seconds
Completion date: 13 January 2025
Country of origin: United States, United States
Country of shooting: United States, United States
Language: English
Shooting format: (…)

- Films / USA, Taxis und Arbeit