Urban Tao / Antonia Katrandjieva - Bulgarie

The plot revolves around seven strangers who coincidentally happen to be riding the subway as a blackout occurs. The urgency of the situation and the inability to act catapults them into a zone of “non-action”, affording them the opportunity to experience their multiple realities. As time seems to stand still, the Navigator (instant Karma) stirs the wheel of destiny into the lives of the dwellers, bringing the winds of change and transformation on their personal journey into the consciousness of the city. He frames their minds, trims their vision, and moulds their social masks so they can conceal their true selves. As they cultivate relationships, share insights, and struggle to overcome fears in a confined dark space, where time has virtually stopped, their personal dramas unfold revealing the absurdity of their veiled existence. The subway crisis affords them the moment in time which replaces their daily distractions in their urban landscape, and becomes the city of their recollections, memories and hopes.

Seven individuals in search of their “Tao” face the immediacy of the moment to reconsider their destiny. They review their everyday revelations, situations and synchronicities, manifesting like karmic lessons, as every event, every incident reveals its teaching. They understand the paradox of not perceiving reality as it really is, landing them in a place where they all experience their Tao – the ultimate universal code of their individuality. On their abstract journey they encounter mythical and symbolic characters like the Sphinx who holds the ancient mystery of existence, The Buddhist Monk, who walks the path of mindfulness, the Navigator, who always brings change and the Quantum Leaper, who is a virtual key to every door. The urban dwellers’ paths criss-cross with each other and with the “archetypal” symbolic characters creating the intricate web of their virtual city tube. As the passengers wait for their instant karmic boomerang they access the liminal state of Satori – or Zen enlightenment. They wait, very much like Becket’s characters wait for Godo. Will he come or have they already arrived?