With Tapes and Toasts in the Car

After a long illness, Shari learns that she won’t recover — she has only a few months left to live. Overwhelmed, she doesn’t know how to face her family. In an attempt to escape reality, the sky collapses above her, and she finds herself drifting through space. There, she meets the cosmonaut dog Laika, who guides her on a spiritual journey through the universe. Like Laika, Shari is approaching her final rocket launch. In the silence of space, she realizes how fragile the Earth is — and how precious time can be. She wants to spend her remaining days with her family. Preferably in a car. With mixtapes. And toast.

Kiana Naghshineh is a German-Iranian director from Mannheim. During her studies at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, she created several award-winning films and was nominated for the Student Academy Award and the Student BAFTA. As a freelancer, she works as an animation director and designer. In her own films, she uses the versatile possibilities of animation to express complex emotions and to approach heavy topics in a playful and accessible way.