Film / Video · Feature documentary

Piano with
Wind and Trains.

Justin Echols began playing piano to cope with chronic back pain and depression. What he discovered was an extraordinary musical gift.

Justin Echols Piano with Wind and Trains

The feature film / 2010

I didn’t just help film a documentary.

I made the whole damn thing.

I followed a story that took me from intimate moments at a piano to the unexpected places and memories that shaped a musician’s life. What emerged was Piano with Wind and Trains, a feature-length documentary.

I directed it. I shot it. I edited it. From the first frame to the finished film, the production was mine to carry through.

Justin Echols seated at a piano in a dark room, with a bright rectangle of sunlight crossing the floor. — 01 / Music A quiet moment at the piano.

Military vehicles riding on flatbed rail cars, seen through a chain-link fence. — 02 / Place Representing the noise and uncertainty of life, passing trains act as a leitmotif that underscores daily struggles.

Oklahoma City Police uniform patch. — 04 / The day job Justin was an Oklahoma City police officer.

An older man in a blue denim shirt bows his head and covers his eyes with one hand. — 03 / Connection Touched by Justin’s music, a man breaks down in tears.

Justin retrieves a plastic-wrapped cardboard box containing his first batch of recorded CDs from behind a green dumpster. — 05 / Humble beginnings Justin retrieves his first batch of CDs from their makeshift hiding spot behind a dumpster.

Festival recognition

Three festivals.
One very personal film.

Official selections at the Chagrin Falls International Documentary Film Festival, Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival and Yes Film Festival.