Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Mar 20–25, 2026 at Firehouse Cinema
New York City is defined by motion, and nowhere is that motion more visible, or more fragile, than underground. Built to Move gathers documentary films that examine the subway as a site of circulation, inscription, labor, and survival. Across decades, filmmakers have turned their cameras toward trains, tunnels, platforms, and riders to reveal a system that is at once mechanical and deeply human. These films look beyond transit as function, uncovering a collective pulse beneath our city.
DARK DAYS • Dir. Marc Singer, 2000
DAYBREAK EXPRESS • Dir. D. A. Pennebaker, 1953
DOWN IN SHADOWLAND • Dir. Tom DiCillo, 2014
ELEVATOR PITCH • Dir. Martyna Starosta, 2020
END OF THE LINE • Dir. Emmett Adler, 2021
OFF THE RAILS • Dir. Adam Irving, 2016
THE #7 TRAIN: AN IMMIGRANT JOURNEY • Dirs. Hye Jung Park + JT Takagi, 1999
STYLE WARS • Dir. Tony Silver, 1983
A SUBWAY STORY • Dir. Eugene Kolb, 2016
THE WRECK OF THE NY SUBWAY (NEWSREEL #47) • Dir. Third World Newsreel, 1969
WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR? • Dir. Barbara Hammer, 1985
firehousecinema.dctvny.org/builttomove
Mar 20–25, 2026 at Firehouse Cinema
New York City is defined by motion, and nowhere is that motion more visible, or more fragile, than underground. Built to Move gathers documentary films that examine the subway as a site of circulation, inscription, labor, and survival. Across decades, filmmakers have turned their cameras toward trains, tunnels, platforms, and riders to reveal a system that is at once mechanical and deeply human. These films look beyond transit as function, uncovering a collective pulse beneath our city.
DARK DAYS • Dir. Marc Singer, 2000
DAYBREAK EXPRESS • Dir. D. A. Pennebaker, 1953
DOWN IN SHADOWLAND • Dir. Tom DiCillo, 2014
ELEVATOR PITCH • Dir. Martyna Starosta, 2020
END OF THE LINE • Dir. Emmett Adler, 2021
OFF THE RAILS • Dir. Adam Irving, 2016
THE #7 TRAIN: AN IMMIGRANT JOURNEY • Dirs. Hye Jung Park + JT Takagi, 1999
STYLE WARS • Dir. Tony Silver, 1983
A SUBWAY STORY • Dir. Eugene Kolb, 2016
THE WRECK OF THE NY SUBWAY (NEWSREEL #47) • Dir. Third World Newsreel, 1969
WOULD YOU LIKE TO MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR? • Dir. Barbara Hammer, 1985
firehousecinema.dctvny.org/builttomove
