DIRECTIONS / ПОСОКИ

In the span of twenty-four hours, while the death of one person gives a chance for a new life to another, in a six taxicabs in Sofia, the destinies of different people from contemporary Bulgarian reality are irrevocably intertwined. Six stories, filmed in ‘one shot’ style.

“This film was ‘born’ on a cold day in January 2015, on the back seat of a taxi. I remember the driver telling me that the driving in Sofia functions practically as a unit of Bulgarian social services; when one loses their job, which is the case more and more often, they find a new job as a taxi driver. My companion was a professor in nuclear physics from the Bulgarian Academy of Science, recently dismissed from work. He told me stories about his colleagues – professional teachers, priests, musicians, ex-military officers, who drive taxies at night – struggling to survive and pay their bills. He told me a joke about Bulgaria being a country full of optimists, as the realists and pessimists left long ago.”

Stephan Komandarev for Festival-Cannes.com