The annual Bicycle Film Festival heads back to Europe this coming weekend, bringing together cyclists and the culture of the bikes on screen for the 22nd year, back in the urban cycling hotspot that is Amsterdam. Three days of selected works of film from around the world tell stories of how bicycles and bicyclists shape the world around them, paired with a packed program of music, rides, racing & open panel discussions…
2022 Bicycle Film Festival in Amsterdam
From the organizer Move Amsterdam: “Bicycle Film Festival has been celebrating bicycles through art, film, and music for 22 years. The BFF events have spanned 100 cities worldwide to an audience of more than one million people. Founded in New York by Brendt Barbur, Bicycle Film Festival is arriving back in Europe to the bicycle capital of the world, Amsterdam, at MOVE Amsterdam and Ride Out. Many of these were selections at film festivals and platforms such as Sundance, Cannes, Academy Awards (Oscars), Locarno, San Sebastian film festivals.”
Beyond just bikes on film, BFF Amsterdam will also include live music by Simone and Amedeo Pace (of Blonde Redhead) who will perform a live score to Stars and Water Carriers, which follows Eddy Merckx & the story of the 1973 Giro d’Italia, by Danish director Jorgen Leth.
An Alleycat Race & several group rides are planned across the city.
Panel Discussions and Q&A sessions include topics from filmmakers & their productions, cyclists detailing motivations & challenges, and a focus on some of the prominent women in cycling.
Sunday’s panel discussion on ‘The Future of Women’s Cycling’ will even be live broadcast on Echobox for those who cannot attend. Keep an eye on BFF’s Twitter, Instagram & even TikTok feeds for how to connect.
Over the long weekend on film, the scheduled program includes 50 short and feature-length films broken down into 7 curated programs covering the breadth from the origins of mountain bike racing, to modern gravel racing, to the first female Paris-Roubaix, to a young Iranian female cyclist afraid of the morality police.
A selection of films to be screened include:
- Get Off – a young woman in Iran buys a bicycle and is afraid of the morality police.
- Kampala Cycling Couriers – executive produced by 2x road & 1x TT World Champion, Anna van der Breggen
- On Falling – with DH world champ Miranda Miller, EWS medalist Andréane Lanthier Nadeau & pro rider/Winter Olympic medalist Brittany Phelan
- The Climb, a short from Sundance that will become a feature this year in Cannes
- Mbogi Amani, following the inaugural Amani Migration Gravel Race
- White Eye, 2021 Oscar Nomination for best live-action short
- Neon Phantom (Fantasma Neon) – the Best Short Film winner at Locarno Film Festival and official selection at San Sebastian Film Festival
- Una Chimba, documenting Laurens ten Dam & Peter Stetina racing the TransCordilleras bikepacking race.
Running from December 2-4, some events are free, admission to the film programs runs 15€, live concert tickets cost 28€, and a complete Festival Pass is 50€. Full details and tickets are available from host Move Amsterdam.
