‘Trains’ Director Maciej Drygas Says Locomotive History Represents Joy And Sadness Of Life – Contenders Documentary

Maciej Drygas’ documentary Trains uses archival footage to depict the history of the locomotive industry in the 20th century. Using private archives, some never-before-seen footage and even educational films, the film takes viewers on a metaphorical as well as historical journey. Drygas spoke with Deadline’s Matt Carey through a translator at Contenders Documentary event.

“My hope for this movie is that this will build up into a kind of a parable about the 20th century,” Drygas said. “It was really of huge importance to me for this film to be relevant and somehow related to the contemporary, current events. The fact that this journey can be a joy and a curse at the same time is very relevant.”

The footage backed Drygas up. He was able to find clips of joyful travel as well as somber uses of trains.

“I think the very first time people started moving from place to place using trains was something very joyful and hopeful about this,” he said. “Then the next thing you know, there are soldiers boarding those cars and going to the front lines.”

Drygas discovered some of the war footage in private collections.

“For instance, there is a sequence in which we see German soldiers being sent to the front lines,” he said. “These are materials actually shot by amateur soldier filmmakers.”

RELATED: Contenders Documentary — Deadline’s Complete Coverage

Drygas’ original idea for Trains included narration. He was sourcing voiceover from material written on trains.

“When we started the actual editing work, I realized that maybe this verbal commentary is not at all necessary,” he said. “Those materials are eloquent enough to tell the story through visuals. I’m mentioning this because it was really a difficult and kind of a bossy decision to proceed. I’m saying mostly because it took courage to take a chance and let the movie play for almost two hours without words.”

Trains does include sound, led by sound designer Saulius Urbanavicius. The sounds and lack thereof are completely intentional.

“The sequence that I sent him was this scene when we see dead bodies in the cattle cars in the concentration camp,” Drygas said. “My request for Saulius was to build silence, but silence that contains a lot of different sounds. That was the beginning of our work together.”

Drygas even provided Urbanavicius a recording of his own heartbeat. It can be found in the sequence depicting the birth of the locomotive.

“During one of my cardiology appointments, I actually recorded the sound of my heart beating,” Drygas said. “It’s barely, barely perceivable, but this way I kind of put my stamp on it. I literally inserted my heart into this work.”

Check back Tuesday for the panel video.