Our friends at Muni Diaries run the ultimate venue (live or online) for telling travel stories in SF, and we love to keep up to date with the bus- and train-riding parrots, tigers and Fabio (oh my!) on their site.
Today, however, we want to share a cross-country travel story created by the Maysles Documentary Center that was one of the last films worked on by legendary documentarian Albert Maysles, who passed away in March. The film, In Transit, which premiered last month at the Tribeca Film Festival, follows the passengers and employees of Amtrak’s “Empire Builder” line on three trips during the winter of 2013-14 between Chicago and the Pacific Northwest.
A thoughtful review by Emily Shire in The Daily Beast highlights Maysles belief in humanity and the importance of connecting with your fellow passengers (in life and in transit) by quoting one of the production team members, Nelson Walker, “I think Albert recognized the special quality to the space of the train. On the one hand, you’re looking out the window, you’re maybe in a more self-reflective space. On another hand, you’re in a social space where you’re forced to engage with other people.”
We can’t wait until it comes to this coast.
Watch the trailer here.
Each Tuesday we bring you a tidbit of transit news or trivia, either from our own backyard or from around the globe.
Comments are for the English version of this page.