Train at Sunset

A film by Matthew Ferraro and Nicole Bell

An animated and musical impression of Bob Dylan’s painting, Train at Sunset.

The painting was destroyed in the Los Angeles Palisades fire in 2025. It belonged to Matthew Ferraro, one of the film’s directors, who wanted to keep the painting alive by creating his associations with it. It’s a train ride for everyone.

Ferraro’s Statement:

The Train That Stayed With Me

Trains and the experience of riding them have always delighted me. So when I first saw Bob Dylan’s painting of a train crossing the desert at sunset, I was captivated. The image stayed with me until I finally bought a signed print, wanting it close by so I could return to it whenever I wished. It brought me joy each time I looked at it, stirring that hypnotic reverie of riding the rails and watching the world roll past.

Then the 2025 Palisades Fire in Los Angeles destroyed my home—and with it, my treasured print.

In the long months of recovery, I often thought about the painting and how much I missed it. One day, an idea struck: I could bring it back to life in a new form. Using a digital image of the painting, I began creating a film that reimagines its desert train, letting color and movement flow into the exhilaration of being on a journey. The film reveals Dylan’s painting as the source of its energy, a spark that continues to move me even after the original was lost.

An experimental celebration of riding trains inspired by Bob Dylan’s painting, Train at Sunset.
It was destroyed in the Los Angeles fires.

The laurels below show the festivals that have selected or awarded Train at Sunset. So far, it has screened only at AmDocs in Palm Springs, California.