International Competition

Women at the Wheel

Fang Yu

For more then 10 years, they drive a minimum of 10 hours a day, every single day of the year through the Chinese metropolis of Xian. Mrs. Wang, Mrs. Duan and Mrs. Yu are cab-drivers, colloquially called ‘taxi sisters’. The three of them are considered ‘lucky’ as they manage to make their living in times of privatization of state-run enterprises. While most of their former colleagues are out of work (there are around 120 million unemployed people in China) they managed to save up the amount needed for a taxi license. The little money they make is just enough to feed their family. Driving a cab is no easy task for women. With work being a strain, contracted debts piling on the pressure, and having to corrupt officials, crooks and gangsters, each day poses a real challenge. We join these three women cruising through the city of Xian, visit them at home after work is done and learn about their lives, their sorrows and joys, and their aspirations.

Fang Yu

Fang Yu was born in Xian, P.R. China, in 1953. After the Cultural Revolution, in 1978, he studied German at a university in Beijing, graduated in 1982 and started teaching at the same institution. In 1984, he came to Germany where he studied German language and literature in Cologne and Berlin. Since 1991, he works as a freelance translator, actor, synchronizer and film director.

General sponsor

Die Taxischwestern von Xian

Germany, China
2006, 72', color, video

Directed by:
Fang Yu

Screenplay by:
Fang Yu

Cinematography:
Xuan Hu, Saied Sharifi

Edited by:
Lucian Busse

Producer:
Fang Yu

Produced by:
Fang Yu