The Travel Game

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.

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.

Bruce Brown's The Endless Summer is one of the first and most influential surf movies of all time. The film documents American surfers Mike Hynson and Robert August as they travel the world during California’s winter (which, back in 1965 was off-season for surfing) in search of the perfect wave and ultimately, an endless summer.

Nearly 200 years ago, the train revolutionized our lives. It redrew the maps of states and nations, and changed concepts of distance and time like no other invention before. What visionaries imagined the development of the railroad? How did we get from the first chugging locomotives to the smooth giants of speed we see today? How does France's extensive rail network keep running smoothly, 24/7?

Gare du Nord : La Plus Grande Gare d'Europe

Whistlestop tour of Dartmouth in Devon, taking in the 17th century Butterwalk arcade and medieval castle.

This short documentary shows the reactions of European immigrants as they land in Halifax at the beginning of the 1960s. From the port, we follow them on a snowy journey by train to Montreal.

An audio-visual essay, which reflects upon & compares metro systems around the world. It is an exploration of a world inside the world as well as feelings, fascination, obsession, fear and themes - of survival, control & silence.

This Traveltalk series short celebrates San Francisco, past and present.

This FitzPatrick Traveltalk series short looks at Czechoslovakia before World War II, including images of bridges, churches, and castles in Prague, also a non-military parade through the city.

This Traveltalk series short takes a look at Cairo's landmarks, people, and culture.

A side-by-side analysis of Buster Keaton's Our Hospitality and S.S. Rajamouli's Maryada Ramanna.

Take a revealing tour along a coast of contrasts, from the folksy freshness of Whitby to the coaly Tyne, queen of all rivers.

Pure tranquillity in rural Somerset, a world away from the war raging on the continent.

Beautiful stencil-coloured images of collecting (and eating) the fruit of India.

Haunting colour travelogue taking in Ulster, Lewis, Lincoln and Cardiff's Tiger Bay.

A timeless landscape steeped in history that is little changed today, but was surely made to be filmed!

A colourful miscellany of footage from both sides of the Pennines.

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.

This travel film takes the viewer to the northern part of Rajasthan. After a quick day tour in New Delhi and its surroundings we visit the magnificently painted havelis of Shekhawati, in Jhunjhunu, Mandawa and Fatehpur, an area that used to be one of the most prosperous parts of India. From there we visit Bikaner with its impressive fort, maybe the most beautiful in Rajasthan, and the city's Jain temples ending the tour with remarkable traditional music and dance in Kuri village right outside of Jaisalmer.