Critical Mass Toronto

I'm sitting in the theatre thinking that if someone forced me to guess the theme of the next film I would have to say it would be about biking as whimsical, free and pure fun. Then the film would show someone cruising around on their bike, maybe doing something intentionally pointless like doing wheelies, making waffles or pulling a rake in the sand. All very much meant to tap our inner hippie.

The Bicycle Film Festival started eight years ago in New York City by Brendt Barbur. Last fall it first came to Toronto with the help of Benny Zenga of Winking Circle fame, with their tall bikes and other whimsical, eccentric creations. (My inner workaholic Calvinist has a bit of a problem with eccentricity and whimsy.)

So why have a bike film fest? What's so special about it? There isn't a knitting film fest (I think, but someone has thought of it). There's no transit film fest even though there are vastly more people who take transit than who bike regularly. Maybe there are a lot of transit and motoring folk who are jealous and want to see what the cyclists are up to.

People who bike regularly are a bit obsessive. It could be the way we feel when we ride; it could also be because of the way cycling has been marginalized on the roadway. Whatever it is it seems to justify a two day festival of bikes. On a yearly basis. (Are there enough films out there to have something new each time?)

The two day fest started off with some "Fun Bike Shorts" followed by some longer features on a warm Friday evening. I enjoyed the "Fun Bike Shorts" with films about bicycle thieves, racing subway trains, fashionistas and bicycles, Tour d'Afrique, making waffles on bikes, recycling bicycles, critical mass in Toronto and so on.

Recycle a Bicycle Washington Heights

What keeps us entertained at a film fest is not so much the machines but the people behind them. One of the most interesting films for me was the 22 minute film on Recycle A Bicycle in New York City, a non-profit involved in refurbishing bikes and educating in low-income public schools. These kids are passionate about learning about bikes. They feel empowered by understanding mechanical systems that are readily available to learn - unlike our motorized transportation - and they get to use the result to increase their mobility. You can see that they are enjoying it.

Waffle Bike Specs

The Waffle Bike was likely the most entertaining (and most lucrative as I overheard that the art installation afterwards sold for a cool half million recently). The narrator in the film about the piece of art created by Tom Sachs went into excruciating detail on the specifications of a bike outfitted as a mobile waffle maker. It had nothing less than a Norwegian flag, sound system, hen cage fit for the New York Times, waffle iron, generator, whipping cream, lingonberry jam, two shotguns, and easy-access machete. All the bike you need to serve the rough streets of New York with waffles.

Pedicabs in New York City

I enjoyed the well-produced films about various "bike heros". A short film introduces George Bliss who almost single-handedly created the pedicab industry in NYC, which is undergoing a crackdown by politicians and police who view them as a hindrance to the smooth flow of motorists. Some of Toronto's bike heros where filmed talking about Toronto's Critical Mass, our own version of hindering motor traffic. The film, directed and produced by Ryerson student, Celeste Koon, featured some great footage of Critical Mass with local heros, including Angela Bischoff, Martin Reis, Geoff Becarich, Michael Johnson talking about why they do Critical Mass.

I was feeling a bit of bike fatigue by the time the second program came around: Do I really want to watch another film about cycling and having fun? Probably the most self-indulgent of the films was the epic on hipster track bike kids in Seattle who go on and on about the spontaneity, purity and joy of their loosely-defined community of track bike enthusiasts. We are then subjected to long sequences of reverse skids with a fixed gear bike, track stands, wheelies, fast rides and so on. Sure it's fun, and I won't begrudge (too much) people having their fun but must we really be subjected to 27 minutes of this? It was only slightly more entertaining than being subjected to long sequences of helmet cam films of bike messenger Alley Cats as they wind their way through stalled traffic, running red lights, dodging cars and pedestrians running for the safety of the sidewalk. Thankfully I missed the helmet cam films and had a tired but happy expression on my face as I left the theatre.

In the end the thing that ties these movies together is still the bicycle, tenuous or not.