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BEIJING TAXI
http://www.beijingtaxithefilm.com
Beijing Taxi Facebook Page
Beijing Taxi Twitter Page
Directed by Miao Wang
2010, 78 min
Download Online Press Kit | Stills
REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
"Interesting and Poignant… An attractive and seamless set of images of working-class Chinese life… Elegantly Framed"
Mike Hale, The New York Times
"Mesmerizing" *CRITICS' PICK
"Unique perspectives... Imagistic... Revealing... Engrossing"
Ronnie Scheib, Variety
See all reviews >
SYNOPSIS
BEIJING TAXI is a feature-length documentary that vividly portrays the ancient capital of China undergoing a profound transformation. The intimate lives of three taxi drivers are seen through a humanistic lens as they navigate a quickly morphing city, confronting modern issues and changing values. The three protagonists radiate a warm sense of humanity despite the struggles that each faces in adapting to new realities of life in the modern city. With stunning imagery of Beijing and a contemporary score rich in atmosphere, BEIJING TAXI communicates a visceral sense of the common citizens’ persistent attempts to grasp the elusive. The 2008 Summer Olympic Games serve as the backdrop for BEIJING TAXI's story, a coming out party for a rising nation and a metaphor for Chinese society and its struggles to reconcile enormous contradictions while adjusting to a new capitalist system that can seem foreign to some in the Communist-ruled and educated society. Candid and perceptive in its filming approach and highly cinematic and moody in style, BEIJING TAXI takes us on a lyrical journey through fragments of a society riding the bumpy roads to modernization. Though its destination unknown, the drivers continue to forge ahead.
"There's something transformative going on in the streets, no doubt, and Soviet kinetic-kino pioneer Dziga Vertov might have liked the film's ethos of a nation on the move."
Nicolas Rapold, The Village Voice
"Evocative"
Michelle Kung, Wall Street Journal
"An Outstanding Ride... dips us under the mainstream media's radar screen and places us in the seat of a journey through the capital of China: a lyrical, funny and at times bitter journey... It's gritty and it's beautiful; the focus on the subjects is sharp, yet you also get a sense of the larger China... "
Stewart Nusbaumer, The Huffington Post
"Strikingly gorgeous... Revelatory, an admirably formal presentation of the baseline texture of contemporary Beijing. It's not just valuable for the record, it's elegant in the process."
Vadim Rizov, Green Cine
"Shadowing the ups and bunny-hill downs of three cabbies, Wang's documentary will entreat loads of audiences to get first hand-to-mouth evidence that a nation's prosperity doesn't turn every bean into magical stalk."
Matthew Niestel, Box Office Magazine
"Wang has a gift for defamiliarization, transforming the everyday into something beguiling... "
Victoria Large, Notcoming.com
"Rich and culturally challenging."
Marc Savlov, The Austin Chronicle
"Quiet, beautiful, contemplative."
Math, Austinist
"The characters in the film are reality-television compelling, and Wang... matches an outsiders fascination about everything with an emigrant's appreciation for what Beijing is leaving behind in their embrace of modernity."
Martin L. Johnson, Baltimore City Paper
"Beijing Taxi functions on a much higher level..."
Don Simpson, Smells Like Screen Spirit
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RECENT SCREENINGS
June 11-16, 2011
North West Film Forum - Seattle, WA
http://www.nwfilmforum.org
Director Miao Wang in person 6/11
June 10-16, 2011
Olympia Film Society - Olympia, WA
http://www.olympiafilmsociety.org/
Director Miao Wang in person 6/10 @ 6:30pm
June 8, 2011
Vancity Theatre - Vancouver, ONT
http://www.viff.org/theatre/
Director Miao Wang in person 6/8
May 7 & 8, 2011
O Cinema - Miami, FL
http://www.o-cinema.org/2011/04/beijing-taxi/
May 11, 2011
Scene: Brooklyn
Brooklyn, NY
http://www.brooklynartscouncil.org
May 3 & 7, 2011
Atlanta Film Festival
Atlanta, Georgia
http://atlantafilmfestival.com/content/view/622/245/
April 3, 2011
Belfast Film Festival
Belfast, Northern Ireland
http://www.belfastfilmfestival.org/
April 3 (6pm) & April 6 (8pm), 2011
Gene Siskel Center
Chicago, IL
http://www.siskelfilmcenter.org/beijing-taxi
Director Miao Wang in person on April 3.
Feburary 10 (3:45pm) Feburary 11 (7pm), 2011
Oxford Film Festival HONORABLE MENTION - CINEMATOGRAPHY IN DOCUMENTARY
Oxford, MS
http://oxford.slated.com/2011/films/beijingtaxi_oxford2011
January 28 - Feburary 6, 2011 HELD OVER!
Real Art Ways
Hartford, CT
http://www.realartways.org/
Director Miao Wang in person on Jan 28.
December 10-16, 2010, NY Theatrical Premiere
ReRun Gastropub Theater
Brooklyn, NY
http://reruntheater.com/
Director Miao Wang in person
November 20 (2:30pm), 21st (6pm), 22nd (6pm), 2010
Stockholm International Film Festival
Stockhom, Sweden
http://www.stockholmfilmfestival.se/en/film/beijing_taxi
Director Miao Wang in person
November 16, 2010, 6:30pm
Coolidge Corner Theatre
Co-presentation by Primary Source
Boston, MA
http://primarysource.kintera.org/beijingtaxi
Director Miao Wang in person
November 16 2010, 4pm
Chongqing Independent Film and Video Festival
Chongqing, China
http://www.cifvf.org/en/index.php
November 14, 2010, 4pm
Cable Car Cinema
Providence, RI
http://www.cablecarcinema.com/index.cfm?p=movie&id=Beijing_Taxi_Q__A_with_Miao_Wang
Director Miao Wang in person
October 16 and 17th, 2010
Hawaii International Film Festival
Honolulu, Hawaii
http://hiff.org/program/index.php/films/detail/beijing_taxi_2010
Director Miao Wang in person
October 23, 2010
Petaluma Film Festival
Petaluma, CA
http://www.petalumafilmfestival.org/Schedule___Tickets_51BY.html
Director Miao Wang in person
October 13, 14, 2010
Duke City Docfest
- BEST DIRECTOR
Albuquerque, NM
http://www.dukecitydocfest.com/festivalschedule.html
October 4, 2010
IFC Center - NY PREMIERE - Sold Out
NY, NY
http://www.ifccenter.com/films/beijing-taxi/
Director Miao Wang in person
September 24-25, 2010
Sidewalk Film Festival - BEST FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Birmington, AL
http://sidewalk.bside.com/2010/films/beijingtaxi_sidewalk2010
Director Miao Wang in person
September 19, 2010
CinemaEast Austin
Austin, TX
Director Miao Wang in person
September 9, 2010
Martha's Vineyard Film Festival - OPENING NIGHT FILM
Martha's Vineyard, MA
http://www.mvfilmfest.com/film_schedule_thursday
Director Miao Wang in person
September 7, 2010
City College of NJ
Director Miao Wang in person
July 15 & 17, 2010
Asia Society Hong Kong, The Grand Cinema
Kowloon, Hong Kong
http://www.asiasociety.org/arts-culture/film/aspirasians-asia-society-summer-film-series-2010
Director Miao Wang in person
July 8 & 9, 2010
Meta House
Phenom Pehn, Cambodia
http://www.meta-house.com/
Director Miao Wang in person
June 3, 2010
Little Rock Film Festival
Little Rock, Arkansas
http://littlerock.bside.com/2010/films/beijingtaxi_littlerock2010
May 7 & 8, 2010
Maryland Film Festival
Baltimore, MD
http://www.md-filmfest.com/films.cfm?id=258
Director Miao Wang in person
May 2, 2010
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival
Los Angeles, CA
http://asianfilmfestla.org/2010/program-guide/program-37/
Director Miao Wang in person
April 24, 2010
Independent Film Festival of Boston
Boston, MA
http://www.iffboston.org/
Director Miao Wang in person
April 16, 2010
Beijing Taxi and Yellow Ox Mountain Double Feature
Yale University Council on East Asian Studies
New Haven, CT
http://eastasianstudies.research.yale.edu/
Director Miao Wang in person
March 15, 16, & 19, 2010
WORLD PREMIERE
South by South West Film Festival
Austin, TX
http://sxsw.com/
Director Miao Wang in person