Black Rider (1993)

A young black man is verbally harassed by an older woman on a streetcar, while the other passengers remain silent. He finally exacts his revenge.

Director:

Pepe Danquart

Writer:

Pepe Danquart

Stars:

Senta Moira, Paul Outlaw, Stefan Merki

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Senta Moira	...	Old Woman
Paul Outlaw	...	Black Man
Stefan Merki	...	Biker
Klaus Tilsner	...	Controller
Andrea Katzenberger	...	Mother
Mark Tiedemann	...	Child
Andreas Schmidt	...	Walkman
Mike Traynor	...	Business Man
Gottfried Mischke	...	Business Man
Ursula Schlecht	...	Business Woman
Ali Atmaca	...	Teenager
Zozan Atmaca	...	Teenager
Erjin Sari	...	Teenager
Ursula Trauvetter	...	Teenager

Storyline

An ordinary morning commute on a tram in Berlin will become the setting of an unforeseen racial abuse when, out of the blue, a seemingly kind and sweet old lady launches an all-out attack on the poor black guy who sits next to her. Spewing hatred about stereotypes and the usual favourite topics of immigration, unemployment and the overall white supremacy, this ugly scene of verbal violence which takes place before an uninvolving and deafeningly silent group of commuters, will highlight society's numbness, desensitisation, and silent concurrence to all things violent. However, much to the lady's surprise, the black commuter still hasn't said his last word yet.

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Plot Keywords:

racism | streetcar | black man | berlin germany | old woman | 

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Genres:

Short | Comedy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

4 March 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Rider

Filming Locations:

Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Trans-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

12 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This short film is inspired from a Norwegian commercial promoting the monthly ticket available from Oslo's public transport system written by Lasse Åberg, a Swedish comedian. Åberg also got inspiration from the urban legend "The Eaten Ticket" that first appeared in Denmark in the 1980's and soon spread to neighboring countries.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Black Man: Is this seat taken?

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Connections

Edited into Short Cinema Journal 1:1 (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Keep All the Sunshine (Locked Up)
Written by Paul Outlaw, Rainer Frey and Horst Neff
Performed by Snow Blind Twilight Ferries

User Reviews

It turns on an interest to watching short films again.

As a producer, director, and writer I tend to watch things the first time without attaching my expert cynicisms. I leave that for the second viewing. This film deserves a watch, and a purchase to your permanent collection of short films.

And if your new to shorts this will set your benchmark very high for quality of story; which makes up for about 95% of a films quality, especially for the lack of originality the industry suffers from.

Finally, the production quality in the very first shot is very deceptive in that it requires patience for researchers of the art and craft such as myself.