Tango 73: A Bus Rider's Diary

"TOUCHING... Reminds us why the work of the transit industry is critical and why the transit-dependent community should be addressed with dignity and respect. Conveys an important political message."
–Martin Wachs
Director, Institute of Transportation Studies
University of California, Berkeley

MORE ABOUT THE FILM

This film illustrates the vital importance of public transportation in urban areas by exploring one bus line and the people whose lives are shaped by the bus schedule and the elements.

Upon arriving in the San Francisco Bay Area from Costa Rica, and having failed to master the quintessential American skill of driving a car, the filmmaker manages as she always has: on the bus. Tango 73: A Bus Rider's Diary reveals an underfinanced system, stricken by recent service cuts, and the people who depend on it.

Traveling on board bus line 73 along the east shore of the San Francisco Bay, a feisty nanny, a wheelchair-dependent activist, a Mexican grandmother and a politically incorrect bus driver speak of their love-hate relationship with the bus. With wry humor, this first-person documentary uncovers the social rituals and secret codes of a world hidden in plain view.

Appropriate for:
Middle School•High School•College/University

28 minutes • VHS

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28 min./ VHS

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REVIEWS

"WARMLY RECOMMENDED... This video is a winner for sociology and urban studies collections."
3 stars
Video Librarian

"A COMPELLING PIECE OF WORK... Will help students, academics and policy makers alike put themselves in the place of those most impacted by transit service decisions."
Professor James E. Moore, II
School of Urban Planning and Development
University of Southern California

"THIS SEDUCTIVE DOCUMENTARY does the improbable: it entertains and advocates simultaneously... The tango music (by Tin Hat Trio) helps; so does Quiros' candid sense of humor about herself, her fellow passengers, and her favorite bus driver."
East Bay Express

"PUTS A HUMAN FACE ON BUS TIMETABLES... Examines the hardships faced by the poor and the disabled who are held under a de facto curfew by the elimination of late night and weekend service."
The Berkeley Voice

"TAKING THE BUS IS LIKE DOING THE TANGO. To do the tango two bodies must come together at just the right moment. When you depend on a bus that comes by every half hour, you learn the value of perfect timing."
Gabriela Quiros
Bus rider

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AWARDS / SCREENINGS

Silver Apple Award, National Educational Media Network
Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley
°Cine Latino! Film Festival, San Francisco
New York Latino Film Festival
Latino Film Festival of the Bay Area
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco
PBS broadcast, San Jose, California

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