After a world premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, Albert Maysles’s final film In Transit will receive its first theatrical engagement this June 23 to 29 in New York City at the Maysles Cinema and Metrograph simultaneously.
In Transit is directed by legendary documentary filmmaker Albert Maysles (Grey Gardens, Gimme Shelter) in collaboration with co-directors Lynn True, Nelson Walker, Ben Wu and David Usui. The culmination of Maysles’s lifelong passion for capturing the stories of train passengers, and styled 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 travellers share their fears, hopes and dreams, In Transit takes place entirely aboard Amtrak’s Empire Builder, the country’s busiest long-distance route. A journey into the hearts and minds of these everyday Americans, the directors explore the essence of what it is to be a citizen of America today.
In the space between stations, where ‘real life’ is suspended, we are swept into a fleeting community that transcends normal barriers. 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.
“We are thrilled to bring Albert’s long gestating, final masterwork to New York audiences in this special weeklong engagement,” said Erika Dilday, Executive Director of Maysles Documentary Center. “This is a wonderful opportunity to see this acclaimed film in the uptown cinema he created specifically for celebrating documentary filmmaking.”
“We are honored to have produced this moving portrait of modern American life that could not be more essential viewing for a nation that is struggling with its contemporary identity.”
The documentary was produced by Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem—the uptown independent film house and a filmmaking education hub that was founded by Albert Maysles in 2005. The center is now run by the Maysles family and a cooperative of artists and educators who continue to coordinate the cinematic programming and educational workshops he envisioned.