Ferroequinology / Film School Radio interview with Director Alex Nevill

FERROEQUINOLOGY follows the travels of two artists enthralled by the uncanny lure of locomotion set out on journeys across America. Andrew Cross chases freight trains through the Black Rock desert in Nevada in pursuit of a perfect landscape shot. McNair Evans travels on an Amtrak train from San Francisco to Portland, sharing stories and making portraits with fellow passengers. Desolate carriages take on an otherworldly presence and time loses its grasp in this study of photographers in motion, capturing slow travel in today’s increasingly fast-paced society. Railroad documentaries hold a significant place in film history. From Auguste and Louis Lumière’s early experiments in The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station to the iconic John Grierson narrated Night Mail or D. A. Pennebaker’s Daybreak Express - the movement, machinery, infrastructure and culture surrounding railroads has fascinated filmmakers since the birth of cinema. FERROEQUINOLOGY draws on this established tradition and brings this potent documentary theme into focus for the contemporary era. Gravitating toward collaborators with particularly artistic sensibilities, Nevill set about filming in ways that engaged directly with their creative work. Shooting in black and white helped to distance the film’s cinematography from each character’s photographic project and reflected the romanticized gaze many of these enthusiasts brought to their images as well as their often sentimental relationship with railroads. Director Alex Nevill joins us for a conversation on his own fascination with trains drew him into a further exploration of this world, meeting McNair and Andrew and the films selection for the 2022 Slamdance film festival. For news and updates go to: ferroequinology.net  2022 slamdance.com/festival