Documentaries

Off the Beaten Path

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Our screening for September celebrates getting off the beaten path.  For many of us from the first moment we enjoy the freedom that comes with riding a bike another thought occurs – where can I explore ? where will this bike take me ?  As riders have ventured further bikes have evolved to carry them on their journeys.

“Off the Beaten Path” is an adventure cycling film celebrating the journeys we can take on bikes; and specifically focusing on how fatter tire bikes are allowing riders to venture to places cyclists have never been able to ride before. From desert dunes in Nevada to ice tunnels under Icelandic glaciers, “Off the Beaten Path” showcases that we’re not limited to pavement or traditional dirt trails when it comes to cycling adventures.

The fat bike has opened up new places to ride and changed the perceptions, and perspectives, of trials riders, snowboarders and even those just looking for the next big adventure. It seems that as riders, and as people, we’ll never stop exploring the possibilities on two wheels.

Leeds Bicycle Film Club is showing this film as part of Scalarama Leeds (1-30 September 2018) which is a celebration of cinema, for everyone, by everyone, everywhere each year across September.  A month of cinema in which cinemas across the country join together to celebrate watching films together and where cinemas pop up in unexpected places and where classic, rare or locally made films get an annual showing.  For a full rundown of events and screenings showing in Leeds check out the website http://www.scalarama.com/leeds/

Date: Monday 17 September at 7pm

Venue: The Reliance, 76-78 North Street, Leeds, LS2 7PN

Cost £5 in advance (tickets can be bought via the Eventbrite link and ticket price includes Eventbrite fee).

A Winter of Cyclists

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I’m sitting writing this as snow lays on the ground in March after the ‘Beast from the East’ has blanketed Britain and made transport somewhat tricky.  I’m not a fair weather cyclist as such but I certainly have ridden less this winter than normal.  Sometimes I find it easy to summon my Flandrian spirit and head out but often I find other methods of getting to work.  I don’t generally mind the weather if heading out on the mountain bike but commuting is a different beast altogether.

I therefore thought, as we hopefully head for a thaw, that it was a good time to show A Winter of Cyclists, a film that will help me (and hopefully you) reflect on your cycling and gain some inspiration from people who ride where it’s seriously cold.  The documentary film chronicles a group of Colorado participants as they attempt to complete a 52-day winter cycling commuting challenge created by Scot Stucky.

The challenge, known as “The Icy Bike Winter Commuting Challenge”, was created to encourage people to cycle to work from October to March, during the darker, colder and the snowier months of the year.

The film captures the wide diversity in which riders adapt to new commuting logistics, adverse weather conditions and riding in the dark. The Colorado riders encounter  unexpected solidarity across the American continent and into Europe via Facebook,  providing a glimpse into a broader global winter cycling community by the end of the challenge more than 150 participants from around the world had joined the Icy Bike Winter Commuting Challenge.

Join us (hopefully thermals not required) and be inspired and as we head for spring reflect back on the your winter riding and what it might hold for you next year.

Date: Monday 19 March at 7pm

Venue: The Reliance, 76-78 North Street, Leeds, LS2 7PN

Cost: £5 in advance (tickets can be bought via the Eventbrite link opposite and ticket price includes Eventbrite fee).

Ovarian Psycos

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Film Fringe & The Leeds Bicycle Film Club join forces for International Women’s Day to bring you the documentary Ovarian Psycos :

Riding at night through streets deemed dangerous in Eastside Los Angeles, the Ovarian Psycos use their bicycles to confront the violence in their lives. At the helm of the crew is founder Xela de la X, a single mother and poet M.C. dedicated to recruiting an unapologetic, misfit crew of women of colour. The film intimately chronicles Xela as she struggles to strike a balance between her activism and nine year old daughter Yoli; street artist Andi who is estranged from her family and journeys to become a leader within the crew; and bright eyed recruit Evie, who despite poverty, and the concerns of her protective Salvadoran mother, discovers a newfound confidence.

Directors Joanna Sokolowski & Kate Trumbull-LaValle commented:

“The story of Ovarian Psycos landed in our laps. We had wanted to make a film together for some time, a film about women, but there was no one story that was jumping out at us. Then we heard about the Ovas.

Like a lot of their fans, we were drawn in by the boldness of their politics, their brazen approach to feminism, and unapologetic aesthetic: a hybrid mix of Chicana, Riot Grrrl, Zapatista and militant-punk cultural markers. With bandanas tied across their faces, throwing up their Ova “hand sign,” and a slogan that can make you both laugh and cry out loud – Ovaries so big we don’t need fucking balls – we were enamored. It took us no time to realize that this was an important moment in time, one that was a clear extension of the legacy of civil rights activism in East Los Angeles, the birthplace of the Chicano Movement, and one that needed to be documented and shared. And a moment in time that echoed the memory of women in history who have fought boldly for racial and gender equality, yet continue to be rendered invisible. The Ovas pay homage to women of the past, and are also clearly reinventing their own hybrid-identity as urban, women of colour feminists.

Our hope is that this film will speak to the same misfit women and girls the Ovas are looking to attract, the ones who don’t feel like they fit in, the ones “at-risk” and under-represented. But we also hope that all folks, both mothers and daughters, and fathers and sons, will catch a glimpse of something authentic and relatable in the stories of Xela, Evie and Andi that will help to expand our collective understanding about gendered politics and race, and conversations about what feminism is and should look like.”

Join us on International Women’s Day for a cracking documentary and a slice of female cycle sub culture from East LA.

This is an additional film that I am involved in screening especially for International Women’s Day.  There will also be a standard Feb and March screening.

Date: Thursday 8 March at 7pm

Venue: The Reliance, 76-78 North Street, Leeds, LS2 7PN

Cost: £5 in advance (tickets can be bought via the Eventbrite link opposite and ticket price includes Eventbrite fee).

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Bicycle

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BICYCLE-image-and-title-285x231Bicycle the film asks the question ‘why is cycling and the bicycle back in fashion?’ The film, which is directed by BAFTA winning director and keen cyclist Michael B. Clifford, tells the story of cycling in the land that invented the modern bicycle, its birth, decline and re-birth from Victorian origins to today. The film weaves bicycle design, sport and transport through the retelling of some iconic stories and features interviews with notable contributors Sir Dave Brailsford, Gary Fisher, Chris Boardman, Ned Boulting, Sir Chris Hoy, Tracy Moseley, Mike Burrows and many more, plus great archive, animation and music. ‘Bicycle’ is a humorous, lyrical and warm reflection on the bicycle and cycling within its place in the British national psyche.

The documentary is made by the same people who did the untold story of Mountain Biking which we screened in January so it gets a big thumbs up.

Date: Monday 16 October at 7pm

Venue: The Reliance, 76-78 North Street, Leeds, LS2 7PN

Cost: £4 in advance (tickets can be bought via the Eventbrite link opposite and ticket price includes Eventbrite fee)

 

 

Clean Spirit

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As the Tour de France kicks into gear our July film is the fabulous documentary Clean Spirit which provides an insider look at the Argos Shimano (now Sunweb) team at the 2013 tour which launched Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb into the public’s consciousness.  The film offers an insider look at what it’s like to be on a professional cycling team at the Tour right now following the highs and lows of the team throughout the three week race but, like A Sunday in Hell, you see much more than the race.  Much of being a professional cyclist involves hotel rooms, team meetings, meals and massage and Clean Spirit really gives you a feel of this life and the internal machinations of a pro cycling team.

The film however is much more that simply a behind the scenes look at a team.  As anyone with a passing interest in cycling will know it has had massive issues with doping.  The Argos-Shimano team was launched as a pro cycling team that strives to compete the right way – clean – and the film crew does not shy away in discussing doping with all members of the team and it provides a fascinating inside and raises all sorts of questions around what it means to be clean.  For example caffeine pills and supplements are legal and the doctor hands these out, although some riders refuse to take them.  There are awkward exchanges but it’s good to see the questions asked and the inner workings of a team shown and you as the viewer are left to make up your own mind.  One thing for certain is that you will have a new found respect for Kittel and Degenkolb.

The camaraderie amongst the team is brilliant to see, you share in the success and failure and one of the narratives within the documentary is how the team rally around Tom Veelers who crashes after tangling with Mark Cavendish (very prescient after just watching yesterdays stage and crash between Cavendish and Sagan).  It’s inspiring viewing and you cannot help but admire the dedication, commitment and sacrifice shown by the riders.  Clean Spirit is a great piece of documentary film making and let’s hope that it will last the test of time and that’s it a true reflection of clean racing and a cleaned up sport.  Only time will tell.

Date: Monday 17 July at 7pm

Venue: The Reliance, 76-78 North Street, Leeds, LS2 7PN

Cost: £7 in advance (tickets can be bought via the Eventbrite link opposite and ticket price includes Eventbrite fee)

 

 

 

Long(er) Cycling Shorts

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Back in October I put on an evening of cycling short films, 12 films none of which was longer than 6 mins or so.  I loved putting it all together and think it went down well and I’ve been keen to do something similar.  As I was researching the films for the first evening there were lots that didn’t fit in primarily due to length so I’ve been looking to put on another evening with a small selection of slightly longer films 10-20 mins each and that’s what this evening will be.  Loosely based around two concepts of build and explore I’ll be showing 2 – 3 films around each concept.

While touching on the idea of explore, it was very sad to hear of the recent death of Mike Hall who was sadly killed while racing in the Indian Pacific Wheel Race in Australia.  All the proceeds from this evenings film screening will be donated to the just giving page set up to support Mike’s family.

Date: Monday 24 April at 7pm

Venue: The Reliance, 76-78 North Street, Leeds, LS2 7PN

Cost: £5 in advance (tickets can be bought via the Eventbrite link opposite and ticket price includes Eventbrite fee)

 

Half The Road

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HALF THE ROAD is a documentary film that explores the world of women’s professional cycling, focusing on both the love of sport and the pressing issues of inequality that modern-day female riders face in a male dominated sport. With footage from some of the world’s best UCI races to interviews with Olympians, World Champions, rookies, coaches, managers, officials, doctors and family members, HALF THE ROAD offers a unique insight to the drive, dedication, and passion it takes for a female cyclist to thrive.  Both on and off the bike, the voices and advocates of women’s pro cycling take the audience on a journey of enlightenment, depth, strength, love, humour and best of all, change & growth.

In addition to the international race footage and athlete interviews, the film also follows director/athlete Kathryn Bertine’s quest to make the 2012 Olympics during her first year racing professionally for Team Colavita. Bertine, a three-time national champion of St. Kitts and Nevis, explores the issues faced when smaller nations try to make strides in a sport that has no history of tradition or support within their culture. The title HALF THE ROAD comes from a segment of the film where the president of a small cycling federation quotes the old adage, “Women hold up half the sky” in reference to equality. The documentary explores the idea that, If women hold up half the sky, then the women’s peloton deserves ‘half the road’ of opportunity, growth, support & equality within professional cycling.

Kathryn: “we thought we were making a movie about women’s professional cycling. Then it turned into a film about equality, told through the medium of kick ass female athletes”

Date: Monday 20 March at 7pm

Venue: The Reliance, 76-78 North Street, Leeds, LS2 7PN

Cost: £6 in advance (tickets can be bought via the Eventbrite link opposite and ticket price includes Eventbrite fee)

Screening Dates for 2017

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Thought it might be useful to put up all the dates that I’m planning to show screenings across 2017.  All films get announced on here, via twitter @LeedsBicycleFC, on Eventbrite, on Leeds Inspired and you can sign up to the mailing list through the website and you will get an email.

All screenings take place at The Reliance in Leeds and are scheduled for the following dates:

January  23 – The Untold Story of British Mountain Biking
Feb 20 – The Flying Scotsman
March 20 – Half The Road
April 24 – Long(er) Cycling Shorts
May 22 – The Triplets Belleville
June 19 – No screening
July 17 – Clean Spirit
No date in August
Sep 18 – no screening unfortunately
Oct 16 – Bicycle The Film
Nov 20 – Quicksilver

Get the dates in your diary and I look forward to saying hi, having a beer and bringing more good cycling films and documentaries for us to enjoy.

Mountain Biking : The Untold British Story

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Getting off the concrete of my commute and onto the fat tyres and into the woods and the mud is what I love to do.  I’m utterly rubbish at it but I love it just the same.  Since I set up the Bicycle Film Club I’ve wanted to get some mountain bike films and documentaries lined up and I’ve got a few options for 2017 and what better way to kick things off in January than this new film from Blue Hippo Media and Singletrack Magazine.

Mountain biking is now in it’s 4th decade and it’s come a long way from it’s beginnings in the hills of the West Coast USA. But that’s only part of the story. The UK MTB scene grew in parallel to the well told US tale and this documentary, from BAFTA award winning film-maker Michael Clifford, aims to layout the complete and unique history of how the MTB developed in British mud.

Through archive footage of early XC racing through to the modern adrenaline fueled disciplines of Enduro, this film will layout the British claim to the origins of the modern mountain bike scene. Featuring interviews with legendary names such as Tracy Moseley, Steve Peat, Dan, Gee and Rachel Atherton, Martyn Ashton, Rob Warner, Gary Fisher, Jason Miles, Geoff Apps, Carlton Reid and many more, this will be the story of how the Brits have carved their names into history and helped shape the global phenomenon that is mountain biking.

Brush the mud off and come and enjoy the best of British Mountain Biking

Date: Monday 23 January at 7pm

Venue: The Reliance, 76-78 North Street, Leeds, LS2 7PN

Cost: £5 in advance (tickets can be bought via the Eventbrite link opposite)

Cycling Shorts

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Ever since I set up the Leeds Bicycle Film Club it was always my intention to show a selection of short films as there is an amazing array of really creative and interesting short films out there.  The issue was working out how I was going to have the time to chase down all the permissions in order to curate an interesting evening.  Luckily Laura who knows everything about putting on films and as been invaluable in helping me was also interested and so as part of this years Yorkshire Festival we teamed up to do a cycle social evening which featured a documentary and a selection of shorts that I curated and Laura helped to get the permissions.

So I’ve now got a cracking evening of short films to put on.  There are 12 films, none longer that about 6 minutes and featuring all different types of film making from music video to Oscar winning animation, politics to humour to mock horror and featuring all different types of bikes and riding from lots of different countries.

As an added bonus a local cyclist and Super 8 film maker will be joining us to show us his short film as well as having a chat and answering questions on the film making process and the work that goes into making a short film.

So stick your cycling shorts on and come and see mine !

Date: Monday 17 October at 7pm

Venue: The Reliance, 76-78 North Street, Leeds, LS2 7PN

Cost: £5 in advance (tickets can be bought via the Eventbrite link opposite)