How to Fix a Railway

Queen of Trucks

July 2022 •English

Trucking is big business. Cashing in on the boom is Shannan’s trucker driving school. But can she pass her own HGV test?

Hitler's Steel Beast

January 2017 •French

Trace the history of Hitler's armored private train, a 15-car mobile headquarters boasting state-of-the-art communications and anti-aircraft cannons.

The Modern Coal Burning Steam Locomotive

January 1942 •English

Documentary on the evolution and introduction of modern coal burning locomotives on the Norfolk and Western Railway line.

The Pied Piper of Hützovina

May 2007 •English

In the summer of 2004, on a car journey in Eastern Europe, Pavla Fleischer met and fell in love with Eugene Hutz, lead singer of New York's Gypsy Punk band Gogol Bordello. Captivated by his energy and his musical verve, and desperate to get to know him better, she decided to make a film about him. The Pied Piper of Hutzovina follows Eugene and Pavla on their subsequent road trip through Eugene's home country, Ukraine. It is the story of two people traveling together on two very different courses. Her aim is to rediscover a forgotten romance; his is to rediscover his roots. She hopes to find love on the road; he hopes to find musical inspiration from the gypsy culture he is determined to preserve. This is an intimate portrait of a filmmaker with a passion for her subject, and a punk musician with a longing to revisit his past. Theirs is a journey which tests their relationship and challenges their perceptions of the music they both love

Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks

September 2003 •Chinese

A detailed look at the gradual decline of Shenyang’s industrial Tiexi district, an area that was once a vibrant example of China’s socialist economy. But industry is changing, and the factories of Tiexi are closing. Director Wang Bing introduces us to some of the workers affected by the closures, and to their families.

The Steel Road

October 1929 •Russian

Bold and exhilarating documentary account of the building of the Turkestan-Siberian railway, presented as a heroic triumph of Soviet progress over natural adversity.

La Camioneta: The Journey of One American School Bus

May 2013 •English

Every day dozens of decommissioned school buses leave the United States on a southward migration that carries them to Guatemala, where they are repaired, repainted, and resurrected as the brightly-colored camionetas that bring the vast majority of Guatemalans to work each day. Since 2006, nearly 1,000 camioneta drivers and fare-collectors have been murdered for either refusing or being unable to pay the extortion money demanded by local Guatemalan gangs. LA CAMIONETA follows one such bus on its transformative journey: a journey between North and South, between life and death, and through an unfolding collection of moments, people, and places that serve to quietly remind us of the interconnected worlds in which we live.

Triboro

October 2021 •English

A trip behind and beneath the street-level skin of the city on the hidden paths of industrial history and once-and-future transit.

The Driving Force

January 1966 •English

Britain operates the most experienced diesel and electric railway in tne world. A century and a half ago she invented the steam engine and introduced a new system of transport; and in only nine years British Rail and the British locomotive industry designed, built and tested enough diesel and electric locomotives to replace fifteen thousand steam engines. The transition from steam to new forms of motive power, and its effects on rallwaymen and passengers, is the subject of this film. Produced in association with the Central Office of Information, the British Locomotive Allied Manufacturers' Association and the British Electrical Manufacturers' Association.

The Future Works

January 1969 •English

A film aimed at showing young people the range of careers open to them if they joined British Rail as an apprentice. It shows the support and education given to apprentices during their training.

London on the Move

January 1970 •English

How the London Transport Board, with the aid of modern technology, is tackling the problems brought about by an ever increasing volume of traffic. Collected in BFI's "London on the Move."

Gare du Nord : La Plus Grande Gare d'Europe

July 2018 •French

The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific

September 1983 •English

In hand-built, double-hulled canoes sixty feet long, the ancestors of today's Polynesians sailed vast distances using only the waves, the stars, and the flights of birds to navigate. Anthropologist Sanford Low visits the Caroline Islands of Micronesia to meet Mau Piailug, the last navigator initiated on his island and one of few men still practicing this once-essential art. He demonstrates his skill by sailing a replica canoe 2500 miles from Hawaii to Tahiti with no modern navigational instruments.

747: The Jumbo Revolution

February 2014 •English

At any given moment hundreds of people are soaring above us in a 747. From the moment the very first jumbo jet took off in 1969, it has been the aircraft against which all others are judged. But its 45-year journey has been anything but smooth. This is the definitive story of the Boeing 747, from its milestones and triumphs to its turning points and disasters. Witness its history through rare archival footage and tales from pilots, engineers, designers, and passengers who were there when it all began.

New York Underground

February 1997 •English

In the mid 1800s, New York City was one of the most crowded places on earth. The congested streets and pokey transportation system were a source of constant complaint. On March 24, 1900, ground was broken for the Big Apple's subway; the Interborough Rapid Transit Line opened four years later, running more than 26 miles of underground track at the speed of 35 miles per hour. Soon thousands in the city were "doing the subway."

Taxi!

January 1982 •English

This feature documentary studies one of the city’s most visible yet most anonymous character: the taxi driver. Filmed by day and night, the film offers an entertaining and sometimes comical look at the drivers, fleet operators and dispatchers who are expected to deliver passengers, parcels… and even babies.

Train 406

January 1958 •English

This short documentary offers a step-by-step account of a fast freight train on a run from Toronto to Halifax, with glimpses of the vast amount of organization necessary in the operation of a country-wide transportation network.

The Canal Map of Britain

March 2024 •English

A look at Britain's beloved canal network via a fact-filled cruise along the first superhighways of the Industrial Revolution. In the age before mechanisation, a frenzy of canal-building saw a new army of workers carve out the British landscape, digging out hundreds of miles of waterways using picks, shovels and muscle.

Snow Fighters

January 1957 •English

A close-up of a snow-bound city, and the men, money and machinery it takes to dig it out.

1917, The Train from Hell

November 2019 •French

1917, The Train from Hell is an historical documentary about a train accident during WW1.