By Milena Tesfay and Sophie Wallace

Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) RTA 00’ alumnus Ian Daffern’s latest documentary film Railfan premiered at the Rendezvous With Madness Festival on Oct. 24, as part of the world’s largest arts and mental health festival.

Daffern’s documentary film is an exploration into the lives of those kids who enjoy going “railfanning”—an exercise in riding or spotting trains for the pure love of it. 

“Railfan is about love. It’s about kids who love trains and the people who love them,” he said, in an interview with The Eyeopener. The film screened at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) auditorium in Toronto.

Railfan follows six kids around New York City, showcasing care through photo essays, monologues and personal interviews with family members. It was filmed over nearly four years—starting in Dec. 2021 and wrapping up Sept. 2025.

The film highlights the sensory experience of trains and subways as a key part of their draw, as well as the route mapping, scheduling and the systems underlying public transportation.

“Even with the editing and the colour we were trying to evoke maybe what these sensations could be like,” he explained. “There’s more of a sense of freedom in the kids when they’re riding the subway.” 

Building trust with the kids was crucial for Daffern. “This was the first film I ever made about autism…it was a journey for me,” he said. 

In 2020, Daffern came across an article by photographer Travis Huggett in the New York Times. Centring on Huggett’s son Orson and other boys at the special needs school his son attended, the piece was entitled “For autistic boys, the subway is actually soothing.” According to Daffern, Huggett was astounded by the huge amount of publicity it received—for many, it resonated deeply with something they hadn’t seen represented before in the mainstream.

Daffern said he reached out to Huggett, who agreed to produce Railfan with him. Huggett connected the team with the families of the boys captured in the documentary. 

Daffern’s connection to the children and their families is vital to their comfortability in sharing such an important part of their lives to the world. Another of the film’s interviewees is Booker Arnold, Huggett’s nephew. Arnold has lived his whole life in New York, and is overtly expressive in his disdain for all things car.

“Growing up I hated the smell of cars, I hated the smell of gasoline, I hated the smell of the inside of the car, but strangely I didn’t mind the smell of the subway,” Booker says on screen.

“I feel honoured to live in a great city like this because we have the most subway stations of any other city in the world,” he says, following quickly with, “472.”

Julian Diego is the artistic director of Workman Arts, the host organization of the Rendezvous With Madness festival. They said they chose to feature this documentary film as it encapsulates the festival’s theme: the “Complexities of Care.”

“[Care is] a four letter word like love—in that a lot of beauty has happened in its name, and a lot of harm has happened in its name,” said Diego. 

“Not all care is delivered in a prescription bottle, or a therapy session, or by a doctor,” they said. “A lot of care happens at a very grassroots level.” 

Daffern said the aim of Railfan is to show audiences what it can look like to take care of the people you love. “I got to explore different sides of that, and see so many people who were reaching or trying to reach their kids and watching that relationship change over time,” he said.

The film is currently being crowdfunded, and you can look out for it on CBC Gem in spring 2027.