Award of Merit – “9.8 m/s²” (USA)

Title: 9.8 m/s²
Runtime: 23 min
Country: USA
Director: Michael Vaynberg
Placement: Award of Merit
Competition: March 31, 2019

Synopsis: Danila (Danny, a Russian immigrant, 47) hijacks a taxi cab on a Saturday night and rushes through Manhattan. Danny is furious – his young beautiful wife hasn’t come home yet again, Danny is convinced she is cheating. Unable to contain his fury and frustration anymore he drives the stolen taxicab prowling the notable spots of the city, including tourist magnets, in search for his chippy wife. All the while Danny is on the cell phone, engaged in a conversation with a friend – (Erik, an immigration lawyer, 40). The latter handled Danny’s case to obtain a green card and both men became friends. Erik acts as a personal psychoanalyst, a shoulder to cry on, as a friend, who listens to the emotional flood erupting from the cell phone and tries to calm Danny down. Erik seems to be aware of the problem and it is obvious the situation has been discussed between the two on a number of occasions in the past. This time everything seemingly played out following the old scenario and was moving towards a peaceful resolution. Erik nearly managed to calm down Danny and convince him to go home and wait for his wife there when, unexpectedly, Danny turns up, in the middle of a night, driving a stolen taxi, right at Erik’s doorstep.