Last Train steams ahead

EyeSteelFilm’s The Last Train Home is on a roll.

The China-shot documentary — already a winner at the Whistler and IDFA film festivals — has generated over $17,500 on two screens at Montreal’s AMC Forum and Cinema Parallel theaters, where it opened on Nov. 20 via its Montreal-based producer/distributor.

EyeSteelFilm (Up the Yangtze) released the doc itself in Quebec, while an English Canada release is planned for March through KinoSmith. It follows a Chinese family’s challenge to stay together amid the country’s booming economy, which spurs factory migration.

The film, directed by Lixin Fan, was also recently selected to play in competition at Sundance.

Last Train currently sits in second place on the list of domestic titles for the week of Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, just behind E1 Entertainment’s La donationnamed Monday night as one of Canada’s Top Ten films of 2009. The French-language drama from Quebec auteur Bernard Émond has earned $330,000 since its release on Nov. 6.

Meanwhile, E1’s Vancouver-shot New Moon remains the top film in Canada for the third week in a row, with a total box office of $20 million. In the U.S., the teen vampire sequel was knocked from the number one spot by sports drama The Blind Side over the weekend. Both titles came out on Nov. 20. New Moon‘s domestic total is US$255 million, according to Variety.