MBTA Ashmont - Mattapan Line: Traction Volume One
Similar Movies

The Strait Guys(en)
THE STRAIT GUYS follows Czech-born mining engineer, George, and his fast-talking protégé, Scott, along the proposed route of the InterContinental Railway through Alaska, to the Bering Strait and onward to Russia. The “Strait Guys” endeavor to convince international governments, corporations, and indigenous tribes to green-light their $100 billion railway project, which would provide ground-based infrastructure across the continents, relieve overcrowded Pacific ports, improve global supply chains, and ease tensions between the superpowers. The US and Russia have been successfully collaborating in space for decades. Now the Strait Guys are out to prove it is also possible down here on earth.

North Korea from the Train Window(ko)
This documentary features about 20 minutes of footage of and from North Korea's aging rolling stock - steam trains being used quite in earnest rather than for the historical interest of kids and hardcore train geeks - and then about six minutes of footage of Pyongyang's subway and trams.

No Measure of Health(en)
No Measure of Health profiles Kyle Magee, an anti-advertising activist from Melbourne, Australia, who for the past 10 years has been going out into public spaces and covering over for-profit advertising in various ways. The film is a snapshot of his latest approach, which is to black-out advertising panels in protest of the way the media system, which is funded by advertising, is dominated by for-profit interests that have taken over public spaces and discourse. Kyle’s view is that real democracy requires a democratic media system, not one funded and controlled by the rich. As this film follows Kyle on a regular day of action, he reflects on fatherhood, democracy, what drives the protest, and his struggle with depression, as we learn that “it is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”

ASK ALLSTON: A Documentary About Boston DIY(en)
A documentary filmed between 2016 - 2018 about the Boston DIY music scene, and part of the community that keeps it going.

Cavalcade of San Francisco(en)
This Traveltalk series short celebrates San Francisco, past and present.
Trains(en)
After shooting more short films and documentaries, Deschanel wrote, directed and shot Trains, a short film that won the Silver Bear at the 1976 Berlin Film Festival. Trains is an exquisitely filmed short format documentary on passenger trains throughout the course of one day.

The Best of American Railroads(en)
This program takes you on a thrilling diesel and steam railroad odyssey across America. We start with spectacular footage along the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad as freight trains work their way through the Rocky Mountains, before moving on to Sand Patch to see the relentless steam of westbound freight trains attacking the steep grade. The railroad town of Altoona in Pennsylvania sees plenty of action too, as trains prepare for the stiff climb to Horseshoe Curve, and on through the mountains to Cresson. There is coal traffic near Iaeger in West Virginia, as well as action at the train hot spot of Cajon Pass in Southern California with regular BNSF and Union Pacific trains. Of course, no program on the American railroads would be complete without a ride on the stunning Royal Gorge Route Railroad in Colorado.

Marathon(en)
Started as a class project in what was likely the first filmmaking course ever taught at Harvard, Marathon documents the running of the 1964 Boston Marathon.

The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat(fr)
A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a train. One is seen coming, at some distance, and eventually stops at the platform. Doors of the railway-cars open and attendants help passengers off and on. Popular legend has it that, when this film was shown, the first-night audience fled the café in terror, fearing being run over by the "approaching" train. This legend has since been identified as promotional embellishment, though there is evidence to suggest that people were astounded at the capabilities of the Lumières' cinématographe.

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City(de)
A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

Life on the V: The Story of V66(en)
Boston's V66 music video station came and went in the mid-1980s but in the 18 months on the air, it was one of the only over-the-air music video channels ever created. But even popular success didn't mean it was going to last...

The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream(en)
Since World War II North Americans have invested much of their newfound wealth in suburbia. It has promised a sense of space, affordability, family life and upward mobility. As the population of suburban sprawl has exploded in the past 50 years Suburbia, and all it promises, has become the American Dream. But as we enter the 21st century, serious questions are beginning to emerge...

Holmenkollbanen Minute By Minute(no)
During the World Ski Championships, hundreds of thousands of people were in Holmenkollen. A great many of them used the Holmenkollbanen to get out into the fields and arenas. When the Holmenkoll Railway was opened in 1898, it was the Nordic region's first suburban railway; today the line is part of Oslo's subway network and transports permanent residents and tourists to Holmenkollen and Frognerseteren. Now you get an orchestra seat for the tour - minute by minute. The recordings were made on Saturday - before the women's three-mile race.

The Unreserved(hi)
The Unreserved is an inquiry into the lives of passengers who use the Unreserved Compartment, the cheapest way to travel across India on the Indian Railways system. The film portrays the passengers’ aspirations, efforts and opinions through conversations and personal stories.

Massachusetts' Maine Attraction: The Edaville Railroad(en)
Massachusetts' Maine Attraction is the only definitive documentary on Edaville ever produced. Through extremely rare archive film footage, you'll learn the history of the Maine two-footers and observe regular-service trains on the Sandy River and Bridgeton & Harrison Railroads. Passenger and freight activities, and even winter scenes, are included. The program then describes the evolution of Edaville, from its planning and construction as a cranberry-hauling freight line to a full-fledged theme park. You'll ride the train and view the railroad from both onboard and trackside perspectives, and see coverage of special railfan events, including night activities.