In Transit

Synopsis

IN TRANSIT journeys into the hearts and minds of everyday passengers aboard Amtrak’s Empire Builder, the busiest long-distance train route in America. Captured in the tradition of Direct Cinema, the film unfolds as a series of interconnected vignettes, ranging from overheard conversations to moments of deep intimacy, in which passengers share their fears, hopes and dreams. In the space between stations, where ‘real life’ is suspended, we are swept into a fleeting community that transcends normal barriers, and where a peculiar atmosphere of contemplation and community develops. To some passengers, the train is flight and salvation, to others it is reckoning and loss. But for all, it is a place for personal reflection and connecting with others they may otherwise never know.

Director Biography

Born in 1926, Albert Maysles is a pioneer of Direct Cinema and was, along with his late brother David, the first to make nonfiction feature films, where the drama of life unfolds as is without scripts, sets, interviews or narration. Albert made his first film, PSYCHIATRY IN RUSSIA (1955), as he transitioned from psychologist to filmmaker. This year Albert received the National Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama.