Albania
Shofer taksie
A short film created as a spontaneous action of inclusion of a local taxi driver into the conversation of foreign passengers, three friends. Although we didn’t speak the same language as him, in this short moment in time we let the music he likes become our way of silent communication with him.
The simultaneous scenes of walking along the labyrinth of meander lines, drawn on the floor of Rruga Sermedin Said Toptani, symbolize the complex paths of interpersonal relations between strangers.
While I was staying in Tirana I had a strong feeling of empathy towards older, local people. I saw that often they don’t speak any foreign languages, while at the same time, because of economic challenges Albanian people face, they are “forced to” work with tourists. As Tirana is rapidly growing and changing, the city center is full of foreigners, both investors and tourists. Local people don’t take a taxi — they take a bus or they drive a taxi. Local people often don’t go out to eat in restaurants — the eat at home or they work in restaurants. Economic differences between local people and foreigners are felt in all areas of life. In Tirana, I had a strong feeling that local people from Tirana often feel as second-grade citizens in their own city, “occupied” by English-speaking foreigners, surrounded by fancy shops, cars and restaurants, which they, local people — can’t afford.
This short film is a documentation of one humble effort of trying to make a local taxi driver feel he’s at home in his own city, by a simple act of showing an interest in his culture via his own personal — music playlist.
