Festival Express

Festival Express
The movie poster
Directed byBob Smeaton
Produced byGavin Poolman
John Trapman
StarringJanis Joplin
Grateful Dead
The Band
Delaney and Bonnie
Buddy Guy
CinematographyPeter Biziou
Bob Fiore
Clarke Mackey
Edited byEamonn Power
Production
companies
Apollo Films
PeachTree Films
Distributed byOptimum Releasing[1]
Release dates
  • September 9, 2003 (2003-09-09) (Toronto Film Festival)
  • September 3, 2004 (2004-09-03) (United Kingdom)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Festival Express is a 2003 British documentary film about the 1970 train tour of the same name across Canada taken by some of North America's most popular rock bands, including Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Band, Buddy Guy, Flying Burrito Bros, Ian & Sylvia's Great Speckled Bird, Mountain and Delaney & Bonnie & Friends.[2] The film combines footage of the 1970 concerts and on the train, interspersed with contemporary recollections of the tour by its participants.

The film, released by THINKFilm in the United States and Optimum Releasing in the United Kingdom, was produced by Gavin Poolman (son of the original 1970 film shoot's producer, Willem Poolman) together with John Trapman, and directed by double Grammy Award-winner Bob Smeaton, with music produced by Eddie Kramer and featuring original footage shot in 1970 by Academy Award–winning cinematographer Peter Biziou. The original 1970 footage was filmed by director Frank Cvitanovich. A DVD release followed the film's 2003 theatrical run.[3][4]

  1. ^ "Festival Express (2004)". BBFC. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  2. ^ "TVGuide.com – Festival Express, Cast & Details". TVGuide.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2009.
  3. ^ Festival Express (back cover/DVD). Bob Smeaton. New Line Home Entertainment. 2004. N7573 (ISBN 0-7806-4923-0).{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ "Festival Express promotional website". Retrieved 21 May 2011.