Event

Beijing Taxi w/ Filmmaker Q & A

*This Screening only With Filmmaker Q & A
Advance Tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com for Fri. June 10 screening only
Tickets also available at the box office evening of screening

Dir.: Miao Wang / 2010 / US / 78 min / 35mm film
With the approaching 2008 Summer Olympic Games providing the backdrop, and a vital defining historical moment for an ancient city, this pithy documentary offers a portrait of China's capital and its largest and most important city as seen through the eyes of a trio of cab drivers who spend their days crawling across the surface of the metropolis in order to make ends meet. Each represents a different generation and class background: one is approaching retirement and recalls well the Mao years; another struggles just to keep his taxi operable; and the third, a young woman, has thoroughly embraced the new ethos of capitalism. They relate their own versions from their own perspectives of Beijing. Problems shared everywhere are revealed: financial difficulties, access to education and health care, coping with the daily stresses of urban life. Stunning images of a city in transformation accompany their stories. Marc Savlov, writing in the Austin Chronicle for the film's premiere at the SXSW festival, notes, "Ultimately, Wang's gritty, urban, people's manifesto of a film is a rare glimpse inside the new heart of China, striving for normalcy for better and for worse."