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4.11.07
Lights, Camera, Ride!
The Boston Bike Film Festival wants entries from cycling
filmmakers.
by
Dan Mathers
If you fancy
yourself as part Lance Armstrong, part Steven Spielberg, the
Boston Bike Film Festival is looking for you.
The festival’s organizers recently put out the call that they
are seeking bike films for their third annual film festival in
October. The festival’s director, Cat Bryant, says any film with
a cycling theme will be considered. Winning films will be shown
at venues in Boston and Cambridge. As of yet, the festival
offers no cash prizes, but it does offer bike filmmakers the
chance to have their work seen by thousands of cycling nuts.
The festival started two years ago as a way to encourage
cycling. “Our goal,” says Bryant, “is to energize people into
getting off their couches, out of their cars and onto a bike.”
Bike films may not yet have the mainstream popularity of their
surf and ski film brethren, but they are gaining. Bryant says
that can be attributed as much to the growing popularity of
portable digital video cameras as to the popularity of cycling.
And cyclists have been putting those cameras to good use. Bike
flicks aren’t just knuckleheads pulling off sick tricks. Last
year’s festival winner was a film about the experiences of a
bike-commuting rookie in Boston. Other bike film subjects
included the mass arrests of Critical Mass riders in New York
City after the Republican National Convention, efforts by Bikes
Not Bombs to bring bikes to New Orleans in the wake of Katrina,
and the story of a terrible mountain bike crash. “There are
cycling-themed movies of all stripes,” says Bryant.
When judging a film, Bryant looks for compelling stories,
quality filmmaking, and, most important, releases. “I can’t show
a film with a soundtrack that is not authorized by the
musician,” says Bryant. “We don’t want to get sued.”
The deadline for submissions is September 21. For entry forms
and more information, visit
www.bostonbikefilmfest.com.
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