Transit (2005 film)
Encyclopedia
Transit is a 2005
film made by MTV Europe
and Tigerlily Films.
It was filmed in St. Petersburg, Mexico City
, Nairobi
and Los Angeles
and shows the lives of 4 different people travelling across the globe. During their journeys they think and reason about issues of life such as emotionality and sexuality.
sometime in 2004 where Asha, an Americanized Indian woman, returns from her trip to Nairobi
, Kenya
and is riding a taxi driving through the freeway.
The scene fades to black and the story shifts back six months earlier in St. Petersburg, Russia
. Tatjana, a secretary, is in an abusive relationship with Yuri, a cab driver who is a drug user. On impulse, she ends the relationship and proceeds to have sex with a Mexican businessman named, Ruben, whom she has flirted with in her boss's office to the chagrin of her close friend, Masha.
Tatjana naively believes that Ruben is the man she wants to be with, and so she ends up flying to Mexico City
to follow him. Upon tracking his residence, Tatjana is dismayed when a woman holding a baby in her arms states that she is Ruben's wife after saying that she is looking for Ruben. Tatjana goes to a public park to make a call on a payphone and scream her frustrations to Ruben on the phone. Emotionally tired and exhausted from the flight and carrying her large stroller bag around the city in the heat, Tatjana loses consciousness and faints on the spot.
Nearby, a man has observed Tatjana whilst enjoying a picnic with his friends. A brief flashback of two months prior reveals the man to be Jose Luis, nicknamed Champignon (mushroom
) or Champy for short, by his handsome yet womanizing friend, Blanco. Champy feels envy and resentment towards Blanco as he is unsuccessful in finding a girlfriend, whilst Blanco already has a relationship but finds time to enjoy infidelities with beautiful women, despite Blanco's good intentions to pair him with women during his secret trips with his mistresses in Acapulco
.
Champy, however, has landed a job with a brewery company, and the story returns to present time to the picnic with Champy, Blanco, and the rest of their friends to celebrate Champy's new job. When Champy sees Tatjana faint after her phone call, he immediately runs to her side with his friends chasing after him. The group crowds around the unknown girl, and one of Champy's female friends suggest that he take her to his apartment to recover.
The story cuts to Los Angeles
where Asha is shown with Vip, her fiance who is also an Americanized Indian, having lunch to celebrate an event. It is shown that Asha is a film student on her way to Kenya to shoot her graduation documentary film. Her parents are conservative and traditional Indian
people, and they record a heartfelt video message to Asha's uncle and aunt, whom she will be residing with once she arrives in Nairobi
.
On the eve before her flight, Asha stumbles upon a sex tape of Vip with one of his female Caucasian colleagues she found while preparing to follow Vip to a nightclub where he his partying with his friends. Hurt by this betrayal, she goes to the nightclub and witnesses with her very eyes that Vip is indeed not the man she knows. The couple argue outside the club and Asha terminates their engagement after it is further revealed that Vip has had more than one instance of his sexual liaisons with other women.
During their fight, Champy is seen by his car packing things in the trunk. The scene then cuts to Champy and Asha in an empty bar
, with Champy writing down his contact details on his company's promotional sticky note paper and give it to Asha.
The story then moves to Nairobi
, where Asha is living with her relatives. Unfortunately, her documentary project comes to a temporary obstacle, with her original concept scrapped because of lack of funds from her documentary subject, and she is frustrated at having to start over and look for a new story angle. The story also introduces Matthew, a local who is into the burgeoning hip-hop culture of Nairobi.
and Tigerlily Films produced this film to air directly on television on all MTV Networks
on December 1, the World AIDS Day
. Its goal is to make teenagers think about matters such as sex
and relationships
.
Transit was made as part of MTV's Staying Alive
campaign, which aims to raise HIV
awareness and reduce discrimination
against HIV positive individuals
.
The film is also available as a free download via the Staying Alive website. Unfortunately this was removed when MTV and the Staying Alive Foundation changed the design of their website in 2008, for the 27th World AIDS Day since the virus, HIV, that eventually leads to the development of AIDS, was discovered. The film Transit can now be found to watch on YouTube.
2005 in film
- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...
film made by MTV Europe
MTV Europe
MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent...
and Tigerlily Films.
It was filmed in St. Petersburg, Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
, Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and shows the lives of 4 different people travelling across the globe. During their journeys they think and reason about issues of life such as emotionality and sexuality.
Plot
Transit is presented in a non-linear narrative and follows four main characters from around the world who meet in fortuitous circumstances. The film opens in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
sometime in 2004 where Asha, an Americanized Indian woman, returns from her trip to Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
and is riding a taxi driving through the freeway.
The scene fades to black and the story shifts back six months earlier in St. Petersburg, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Tatjana, a secretary, is in an abusive relationship with Yuri, a cab driver who is a drug user. On impulse, she ends the relationship and proceeds to have sex with a Mexican businessman named, Ruben, whom she has flirted with in her boss's office to the chagrin of her close friend, Masha.
Tatjana naively believes that Ruben is the man she wants to be with, and so she ends up flying to Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
to follow him. Upon tracking his residence, Tatjana is dismayed when a woman holding a baby in her arms states that she is Ruben's wife after saying that she is looking for Ruben. Tatjana goes to a public park to make a call on a payphone and scream her frustrations to Ruben on the phone. Emotionally tired and exhausted from the flight and carrying her large stroller bag around the city in the heat, Tatjana loses consciousness and faints on the spot.
Nearby, a man has observed Tatjana whilst enjoying a picnic with his friends. A brief flashback of two months prior reveals the man to be Jose Luis, nicknamed Champignon (mushroom
Mushroom
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi that...
) or Champy for short, by his handsome yet womanizing friend, Blanco. Champy feels envy and resentment towards Blanco as he is unsuccessful in finding a girlfriend, whilst Blanco already has a relationship but finds time to enjoy infidelities with beautiful women, despite Blanco's good intentions to pair him with women during his secret trips with his mistresses in Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
.
Champy, however, has landed a job with a brewery company, and the story returns to present time to the picnic with Champy, Blanco, and the rest of their friends to celebrate Champy's new job. When Champy sees Tatjana faint after her phone call, he immediately runs to her side with his friends chasing after him. The group crowds around the unknown girl, and one of Champy's female friends suggest that he take her to his apartment to recover.
The story cuts to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
where Asha is shown with Vip, her fiance who is also an Americanized Indian, having lunch to celebrate an event. It is shown that Asha is a film student on her way to Kenya to shoot her graduation documentary film. Her parents are conservative and traditional Indian
Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin
A Non-Resident Indian is an Indian citizen who has migrated to another country, a person of Indian origin who is born outside India, or a person of Indian origin who resides permanently outside India. Other terms with the same meaning are overseas Indian and expatriate Indian...
people, and they record a heartfelt video message to Asha's uncle and aunt, whom she will be residing with once she arrives in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
.
On the eve before her flight, Asha stumbles upon a sex tape of Vip with one of his female Caucasian colleagues she found while preparing to follow Vip to a nightclub where he his partying with his friends. Hurt by this betrayal, she goes to the nightclub and witnesses with her very eyes that Vip is indeed not the man she knows. The couple argue outside the club and Asha terminates their engagement after it is further revealed that Vip has had more than one instance of his sexual liaisons with other women.
During their fight, Champy is seen by his car packing things in the trunk. The scene then cuts to Champy and Asha in an empty bar
Bar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
, with Champy writing down his contact details on his company's promotional sticky note paper and give it to Asha.
The story then moves to Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, where Asha is living with her relatives. Unfortunately, her documentary project comes to a temporary obstacle, with her original concept scrapped because of lack of funds from her documentary subject, and she is frustrated at having to start over and look for a new story angle. The story also introduces Matthew, a local who is into the burgeoning hip-hop culture of Nairobi.
About the film
MTV EuropeMTV Europe
MTV Europe is a pan-European 24-hour entertainment cable and digital television network launched on August 1, 1987. Initially, the channel served all regions within Europe being one of the very few channels that targeted the entire European continent...
and Tigerlily Films produced this film to air directly on television on all MTV Networks
MTV Networks
MTV Networks is a division of media conglomerate Viacom that oversees the operations of many television channels and Internet brands, including the original MTV channel in the United States...
on December 1, the World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day
World AIDS Day, observed December 1 every year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. Government and health officials observe the day, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics. Since 1995, the President of the United States has made an...
. Its goal is to make teenagers think about matters such as sex
Sex
In biology, sex is a process of combining and mixing genetic traits, often resulting in the specialization of organisms into a male or female variety . Sexual reproduction involves combining specialized cells to form offspring that inherit traits from both parents...
and relationships
Interpersonal relationship
An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on limerence, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment. Interpersonal relationships are formed in the...
.
Transit was made as part of MTV's Staying Alive
MTV Staying Alive
Staying Alive is an MTV international initiative to encourage HIV prevention, promote safer lifestyle choices and fight the stigma and discrimination which fuels the HIV epidemic. Staying Alive is now the world’s largest HIV mass media awareness and prevention campaign...
campaign, which aims to raise HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
awareness and reduce discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
against HIV positive individuals
HIV positive people
HIV-positive people are people who have the human immunodeficiency virus HIV, the agent of the currently incurable disease AIDS.Over the years of coping with the stigma and discrimination that accompany the diagnosis in most societies, a large number of support groups have been formed...
.
The film is also available as a free download via the Staying Alive website. Unfortunately this was removed when MTV and the Staying Alive Foundation changed the design of their website in 2008, for the 27th World AIDS Day since the virus, HIV, that eventually leads to the development of AIDS, was discovered. The film Transit can now be found to watch on YouTube.