By SooToday.com Staff
SooToday.com
Thursday, March 04, 2010
NEWS RELEASE
DAN NYSTEDT
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Tales from the Rails: Part 1
SAULT STE. MARIE – (March 3, 2010) – Local documentary filmmaker Dan Nystedt hit the rails this morning as he began the first leg of his national tour by train.
His upcoming documentary, DeRailed: The National Dream is slated to be released in the spring/ summer of 2010.
This locally produced film will highlight the success stories, struggles, policies and politics of independent, short-line passenger rail services in Canada.
Featured lines in Northern Ontario – the Algoma Central Railway and Ontario Northland Railway – will serve as a microcosm for the larger story development.
In the face of peak-oil, green alternatives and an ever-expanding policy that supports highway development, Nystedt’s film will speak to the need for sustainable infrastructure building and community resiliency.
Nystedt intends to interview policymakers, passengers, politicians and those involved with operations along the rail journey.
The first part of his trip will consist of a 15-day journey east from March 3 to March 17.
During this portion of his research, Nystedt will shoot footage of the Algoma Central Railway, Ontario Northland Railway, the Guelph Junction Railway, the previously independent Chemain de Fer de la Matapedia du Golfe (purchased by CN in 2008), and Tshiuetin Rail Transportation running from Quebec to Newfoundland.
The westbound leg of Nystedt’s journey will run from March 24 to April 10 and will see him travel through Winnipeg, the Pas, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo.
This film is being produced in coordination with the efforts of Dr. Linda Savory-Gordon of the Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains, Ashleigh Sauve of the NORDIK Research Institute and Emily Colombo of Algoma University’s Community Economic and Social Development program.
Nystedt’s previous work in film includes a role as assistant editor with the visiting Longfellow feature-film production, director and writer of Ken MacDougall: the enjoyment of form, and a number of short interviews on the Group of Seven’s painting experience in Algoma.
Internet users can follow Dan’s process through periodic postings on www.sootoday.com, and as he posts to the Facebook group DeRailed: The National Dream and the Colaition for Algoma Passenger Trains website www.captrains.ca
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