Artists' Television Access

Hobo Film Festival

presented by: Agency Films

Monday, July 30, 2007, 7:00 pm, $6

The railroad industry in America has played an immense role in the development and progression of our modern society. Besides its most obvious role as a life line for supplies and sustenance to newly burgeoning towns and industry, it helped spawn an incredible subculture of people, the hobos and tramps of America. These hobos used the trains during the great depression in order to seek work, and a whole society of people grew around the railroads.

The National Hobo Convention, held yearly in Britt, Iowa since 1933 has celebrated this subculture by providing a meeting point and fairgrounds, and a hierarchy with elected officials. These kings and queens were designated to preside over the races, relays, and burlesque events at the festival.

Agency films has long been associated with the railways and has produced multiple short films and ..aries around the subject of train hopping and have made it their mission to preserve the history of the American train tramp. We have generated national interest due to our increasingly popular television shows, You Tube broadcasts, and the yearly Asheville Rejects Film Festival.

In cooperation with The National Hobo Convention, Agency Films is due to kick off their Hobo Film Festival mid July, 2007, and will embark on a national tour culminating in Britt, Iowa at the convention. We have brought together dozens of filmmakers who produce films around train hopping and hobo culture and are gathering more submissions to create the ultimate visual dichotomy of this colorful and truly important facet of American history.


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