The Chinese Shoe

Lichter is an episodic tale from Hans-Christian Schmid about the life on the border between Germany and Poland. The film sheds light on the everyday stories of escape and desperateness.

A quintet of cabbies in five cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.

When Martin, a former GDR citizen, is released from jail, he lately becomes confronted with the consequences of the German re-unification.

Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly detached from reality as he dreams of cleaning up the filthy city.

Cab driver Max picks up a man who offers him $600 to drive him around. But the promise of easy money sours when Max realizes his fare is an assassin.

Ivan is old Russia: thick, dour, hard-working, often brutish; he misses Communism. He drives a taxi and one night meets Alexi, a new Russian, a musician, an alcoholic, irresponsible. Alexi stiffs Ivan for the fare, so Ivan tracks him down and a love-hate relationship ensues. When Alexi lets the bath water run over in Ivan's flat and Ivan must pay 500 rubles for repairs, he tries to force Alexi into day labor to repay him. It's hopeless. Then, suddenly, Alexi is discovered, goes on a jazz tour of America, becomes a celebrity, and returns in triumph. Ivan longs to renew the friendship, and it looks as if he may get what he wants.

Carlos, desperate for not receiving a response from his boyfriend, takes a taxi that will take him to various parts of the city to look for him and to find himself through Aurelio, the driver of the vehicle that will transport him in the middle of the night.

A charming racketeer seduces the DA's stepdaughter for revenge, then falls in love.

Jacek climbs into the taxi driven by Waldemar, tells him to drive to a remote location, then brutally strangles him, seemingly without motive.

Rolf Köster has been working as a cashier in a small bank branch for years. Every day passes like the day before. He has a thirteen-year-old daughter who would rather write in a diary than speak and a six-year-old son who has to wear a bicycle helmet because he is constantly banging his head against walls. His wife organizes the whole family life, and Rolf stays in the background. But he has doubts as to whether he, who has "everything", is really happy. Then Rolf is unexpectedly given a week's vacation. He decides not to tell his family and to leave the house as usual. Rolf Köster begins to lead a double life.

On Christmas Eve, Francesca sets out for Rotterdam in order to find her little sister, who has run off with her musician boyfriend. On the way, she picks up Gerlinde, a heartbroken older woman at the end of her rope.

A henpecked housewife ekes out a meager existence, surrounded by a host of colorful characters: her ungrateful husband, her delinquent sons, her headstrong mother-in-law, and her sex worker neighbor, among others.

Alberto, a collective taxi driver, observes through the lives that pass through his car, the beauty hidden in the decadence of the oil city where he works.

A man planning to commit suicide hires a taxi driver to take him to his jumping-off point.

A woman taking a cab ride from JFK airport engages in a conversation with the driver about the important relationships in their lives.

An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham, has been working for months on the plans for an elaborate new cathedral which he hopes will be paid for primarily by a wealthy, stubborn widow. He is losing sight of his family and of why he became a churchman in the first place. Enter Dudley, an angel sent to help him. Dudley does help everyone he meets, but not necessarily in the way they would have preferred. With the exception of Henry, everyone loves him, but Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, both at work and in his family's affections, as Christmas approaches.

A night in the life of a cab driver in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

As her marriage dissolves, a Manhattan writer takes driving lessons from a Sikh instructor with marriage troubles of his own. In each other's company they find the courage to get back on the road and the strength to take the wheel.

A guilt-ridden and disheveled taxi driver named Limuel Alcantara picks up a mild-mannered businessman named Emmanuel Lazaro as his last passenger for the night. Limuel's conspiracy to bring Emmanuel to the hideout of robbery gang leader Diego Gawaran takes a wrong turn. Their journey together from Manila to the foothills of Antipolo becomes a tension-filled and claustrophobic experience. The only way out of this seemingly eternal ride is to face their damnation.

The life of a taxi driver is to not judge or get involved. It's to go where he's told to go, for a price. One day, Thomas gets a group of odd passengers with a ravenous dog. They have money, and they have places to be. How far will he go?