Browse films

Riding the Highline

Kai Carlson-Wee
Anders Carlson-Wee
United States, 2015, 16 min.

In English.
Includes adult language.

AIFF Award Winner:
Jury Award for Creative Achievement

Riding the Highline follows poet brothers Kai and Anders Carlson-Wee on a train hopping trip across the northernmost railroad line in the country, from Minneapolis, Minnesota to the Cascade Mountains in Washington State. The film begins with the brothers waiting for trains in the Northtown Yard in Minneapolis, and follows their journey across the American West, using narrative cut scenes, poetry written by the brothers, and still photographs taken along the way. Over the course of four days, the brothers pass through a number of train yards and small towns before reaching the Columbia River Basin in Wenatchee, WA.

Director's Statement

I want to make films that are built on the narrative impulses of poetry.

Category: Documentary.
Themes: Poetry, Family, Road Trip.

More in Documentary

  • No Baby on Board

    No Baby on Board

    Julia Kots
    United States, 2025, 79 min.

    When the filmmaker tries to donate her frozen eggs, she delves into a hilarious and heartbreaking debate about why women are opting out of motherhood... more ›

  • Voyage of the Handala

    Voyage of the Handala

    Jim Koenigsaecker
    United States, 2025, 29 min.

    Voyage of the Handala is an independent documentary film about an international group of peace activists and aid workers sailing from Europe to Gaza to raise... more ›

  • Magdalena Hausen: Frozen Time

    Magdalena Hausen: Frozen Time

    Yannis Karpouzis
    Germany, 2025, 25 min.

    German photographer Magdalena Hausen crosses post-war political history of Europe in her quest to make a photograph of the wind. An experimental film about... more ›