Schwarzfahrer

Infobox Film
name = Schwarzfahrer


image_size =
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director = Pepe Danquart
producer = Alberto Kitzler
writer = Pepe Danquart
narrator =
starring = Senta Moira
Paul Outlaw
music =
cinematography = Ciro Cappellari
editing = Mona Bräuer
distributor =
released = 1993
runtime = 12 minutes
country = Germany
language = German
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0108056

"Schwarzfahrer" (also known as "Black Rider") is a 1993 German 12-minute short film directed by Pepe Danquart. It won an Academy Award in 1994 for Best Short Subject.cite web |url=http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/434317/Schwarzfahrer/details |title=New York Times: Schwarzfahrer |accessdate=2008-05-25|work=NY Times] The topic of the film is the daily racism a black man endures in a tram. The title is a word-play: literally, "Schwarzfahrer" means "fare-dodger" in German, but is also translatable to "black rider". This word-play forms the punch line of the short film.

Plot

A motorbiker (Stefan Merki) boards a tram, and witnesses a black man (Paul Outlaw) sitting down next to an elderly white woman (Senta Moira). In the entire 12 minutes, the old woman racially abuses the black man, stating they stink, are unintelligent, criminal and the perfect carrier for AIDS. The biker feels uncomfortable, but does not dare to interrupt. The black man stays quiet for the entire film, until the tram controller arrives: when the old woman produces her ticket, he grabs and swallows it. When the old woman accuses the black man for eating her ticket, he coolly shows his valid ticket to the controller; the latter nods at him and arrests the old woman. The punch line is that both the black man and the old woman are "Schwarzfahrer" now: the black man who rides a train, is a non-offensive "black rider", while the old woman now is a "real" law-breaking Schwarzfahrer (i.e. fare dodger).

Cast

* Senta Moira as the Old Woman
* Paul Outlaw as the Black Man
* Stefan Merki as the Biker
* Klaus Tilsner as the Controller

Acclaim

* 1993 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film — won

References

External links

*imdb title|0108056