A grim futuristic society where life is cheap -- literally -- provides the backdrop for this thriller. Kater (Hayman Maria Buttinger) is a denizen of a Vienna of the future where drugs are a common amusement, body parts are frequently stolen from unwilling "donors" for the transplant market, and our protagonist has lost a bundle at the rat races (yes, people actually bet on which rodent can cross the finish line first). To make good on his debts, Kater is drawn into a shadowy underground world of organ trading and brain modification that eventually leads back to his former girlfriend and her new significant other, a sinister crime leader. Rat Race received its American premier at the 1999 San Francisco Film Festival.