Katie's Film Festival Diary for Monday, April 9

Film: Wholetrain

Future Screenings: No future screenings scheduled; check the Festival website next week to see if it was named a Festival Favorite!

Not only is Wholetrain the only film I've seen to date during the Film Fest, it's also the only film I've seen during any Philly Film Fest. Ever. I'm a bad moviegoer, I'll admit it. But, once I got my hands on the super pretty, official-looking press pass for the fest, I knew it was time to see something (I'm simple). And for my first Film Fest experience, I picked wisely: Wholetrain was great, and the unexpected talkback with Florian Gaag, the film's Writer/Director, was just as entertaining and interesting as the film itself.

Wholetrain
The first full length feature by director Florian Gaag, Wholetrain tells the story of four German graffiti writers (David, Tino, Elyas and Achim), members of the KSB ("Keep Steel Burning") Crew, as they aim to paint an entire train (thus the film's name), and the affects this plan has on other aspects of their lives.

Long before he got into filmmaking, Gaag was a graffiti writer, starting out in 1984, when he was 12 years old. In his post-film conversation with the audience, Gaag explained that he made Wholetrain to offer a more complete view of the world of graffiti writers and to humanize their art. With the help of an incredibly talented cast, Gaag accomplishes this many times over. Throughout the course of the film, we see each of the main characters sacrifice things that are important to them (some more so than others) so that they can keep creating their art.

This wasn't a film I walked into expecting to cry during, but by the film's ending, my waterworks had been turned on (though, fortunately, my tears dried before the talk back started, since the lights were on and I was pretty much dead center in the theater). More than anything, this is a story about a group of guys who have found an artform through which they can express themselves, and what they go through to find a space in which to do it. It's got both funny and serious moments, it's moving, and overall, it's just really well done and really good.

Wholetrain's Philly run is finished (unless it shows up in any Best Of screenings), but it's due for an October release on DVD. In the meantime, should this appear anywhere that you're able to catch it, do.
Festival rating: Excellent