“The Darjeeling Limited,” starring (from left) Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, and Owen Wilson, will be screening in Belfast as part of the Full Speed Ahead film festival. Photo courtesy of Searchlight Pictures

It’s easy to see why so many movies set on trains — more than 300 — have been made over the years.

Train travel stirs a unique sense of excitement and adventure. It’s hard to imagine the protagonists of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 thriller “Strangers on a Train” plotting murders in the back of a minivan. The three estranged brothers in Wes Anderson’s 2007 film “The Darjeeling Limited” would likely not find the same sense of spiritual discovery on connecting flights across India.

“There are so many films that have featured trains or great train scenes, and I think that’s because they provide a sense of adventure for the audience, and can be really exciting on film,” said Mike Perreault, executive director of the Maine Film Center in Waterville.

Movies about trains are the focus of a new statewide film festival called Full Speed Ahead, running May 6-11. Sixteen train-based films from a variety of eras and genres will be shown at movie theaters and other venues in towns all over Maine, including Portland, Waterville, Boothbay Harbor, Rockland, Bethel, Belfast, Brunswick, Lewiston, Damariscotta and Waldoboro.

Besides the two train films mentioned above, some others scheduled to screen during the festival will include “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974) at the Alamo Theatre in Bucksport on May 8, “North By Northwest” (1959) at the Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta on May 8, “The General” (1926) at the Portland Museum of Art  on May 10 and “Once Upon a Time in the West” (1968) at the Maine Film Center on May 11.

There will be a total of 24 events — including the 16 films — celebrating trains and train travel. Eighteen nonprofit cinemas, museums and schools collaborated on organizing the festival, as a way to not only focus on film and independent theaters, but also on passenger train travel and what it could mean to Maine’s future. Extending Amtrak Downeaster passenger service from Brunswick to Rockland has been discussed for years, for example, but its future remains uncertain.

The festival coincides with National Train Day, which is May 10.

“Movies allow us to engage in discussion on an endless variety of topics,” said Christina Belknap, executive director of Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta, one of the festival venues. “Hopefully the train festival encourages a conversation about more passenger service throughout Maine. For Midcoast arts organizations like ours, having the train extended to Rockland would be life-changing.”

The train film festival is also a way to showcase how important local, independent movie theaters are in Maine towns, said Anne Rogers-Popejoy, executive director of the non-profit Strand Theatre in Rockland.

“North by Northwest,” starring Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint, will be part of the Full Speed Ahead film festival  screening in Damariscotta. Photo courtesy of Turner Entertainment Co.

“We’re lucky in Maine to have so many, but it’s not easy to be an independent movie theater right now, we’re operating as a non-profit because ticket revenue from films no longer covers our expenses,” said Rogers-Popejoy. “We’re looking not only to bring people to our events, but to create a commitment and a community around film, around the shared experience of sitting in a theater and laughing and crying with your neighbors.”

Rogers-Popejoy is excited that the Strand, a movie theater since 1923, is hosting two classic films that it might have screened when they first came out. One is “Strangers on a Train,” which will be shown May 9 while the 1938 Hitchcock film “The Lady Vanishes” will be shown on May 10. Both will feature appearances by Alicia Malone, an author and host for the cable network Turner Classic Movies. Malone, a Maine resident, is on the Strand’s board.

Prices for films vary at theaters and venues, and can be found on their individual websites. The complete schedule of films and other events, including screening times, are online at www.MaineTrainFest.com.

There are several free film screenings and events throughout the festival.  These include “The Natural” (1984), starring Robert Redford, at Bates College in Lewiston on May 7; British director David Lean’s “Brief Encounter” (1945) at Eveningstar Cinema in Brunswick on May 7; “Thomas and the Magic Railroad” (2000) at Harbor Theater in Boothbay Harbor on May 9; John Frankenheimer’s “The Train” (1964) at Harbor Theater on May 10 and Cecil B. DeMille’s “Union Pacific” (1939) at Harbor Theater on May 11. Silent film comedian Buster Keaton’s classic “The General” (1926) is free for students 21 and under at the Portland Museum of Art on May 10.

Some of the other films and their venues include “The Narrow Margin” (1952) and “The Darjeeling Limited” (2007) on May 6 at the Colonial Theatre in Belfast; “Some Like It Hot” (1959) at the Waldo Theatre in Waldoboro on May 7; “Stand By Me” (1986) at the Gem Theater in Bethel on May 9 and “The Harvey Girls” (1946) at the Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta on May 10.

Buster Keaton’s “The General” will screen in Portland. Photo courtesy of Kino Lorber

The Maine Film Center, which shows films in Waterville and runs the annual Maine International Film Festival,  has collaborated with venues across Maine on other statewide film festivals in recent years, including one celebrating Maine-born director John Ford — John Ford 125 Years — in 2019 and the Maine in the Movies festival in 2020, timed for the state’s bicentennial.

“This is the kind of programming that we love to do, because it not only supports the communities (where the films are shown) but it’s bringing awareness to some incredibly important films in the history of cinema,” said Perreault, of the Maine Film Center. “It’s also highlighting issues important to a lot of small communities, including good transportation and having access to a movie theater. These things have a really strong economic, cultural and social benefit. ”

A scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train.” Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.