Midnight Train is an intimate and powerful documentary featuring the firsthand account of Kiyoshi Taylor’s grandfather, now 95 years old, as he recounts his extraordinary journey of survival and resilience. As a young boy, he fled the violent racial terror of the South, escaping alone on foot to Ohio. In a time when countless Black families sought refuge from oppression during the Great Migration, his story serves as a haunting reminder of the lengths people went to in order to survive.

In his own voice, Kiyoshi’s grandfather shares memories of the dangers he faced, the courage it took to leave everything behind, and the hope he held onto as he built a new life. His story, reminiscent of what Emmett Till’s might have been if he had survived, is one of loss, resilience, and triumph. Through Midnight Train, we are given an unfiltered look into a lived history that is rarely told, highlighting the endurance of an entire generation who fled the South not just for opportunity, but for survival.