Filmed By Bike Festival: Call For Entries

Monday, January 05, 2015

Üma Kleppinger, GoLocalPDX Contributor

glpdx-filmedbybike

Filmed by Bike is seeking entries for this year's festival; submission deadline is January 20th.

Bike-loving film goers and film-loving bike riders come together for a cinematic celebration of bike-themes movies at Filmed by Bike, now in its 13th year. The festival is seeking submissions for this year's festival; submission deadline is January 20th.

Filmed by Bike is a film festival featuring events and the best bike movies from around the world. The 2013 Festival's Golden Helmet Award went to San Francisco film producer Brandon Loper, for his delightful short film, entitled Unwieldy Beast (shown below).

Unwieldy Beast from brandon loper on Vimeo.

Over 100 movies are submitted each year but only a select few will make the final cut. An esteemed panel of nine jurors will spend two days watching submissions to determine which films make it into the festival. (http://FilmedByBike.org/the-jury)

Festival founder Ayleen Crotty says the festival has seen quite a shift in submissions over the years, ”We used to receive the vast majority of our film submissions from Portland-based filmmakers, 60% came from outside the US in 2014.”

Could this be the start of an international bike film festival? Over the years the quality of the films improved as the culture of cycling has grown and evolved from a fringe culture to a much more sophisticated group. Films range from simple do-it-yourself camera phone genius to elaborate mini-documentaries produced on high-performance equipment.

Ayleen says she relishes this opportunity to showcase international bike culture. “Portland is an amazing city that has for many years been at the forefront of a global bike movement, but other cities worldwide are also embracing bicycle creativity. Filmed by Bike offers festival goers an opportunity to see what's happening all over the world, and I think that's important—and thrilling.”

The 2015 Filmed by Bike festival is scheduled May 22-23 at the Hollywood Theatre in NE Portland, a new and larger venue for the festival. Auxiliary events such as after parties, beer tastings, filmmaker Q+As, panel discussions and workshops will take place at the Festival Lounge, located a block away from the theater at Velo Cult Bike Shop and Tavern.

Final film selection will be announced in February, and tickets go on sale in March.

For more information on submitting a film to Filmed by Bike, see FilmedByBike.org/submission.

Üma Kleppinger is a Portland-based copy writer, author and bike addict. A recovering sesquipedalian who blogs about life in the saddle and outdoor adventure, she is also the author of Bike Yoga, a flexibility and recovery program for cyclists. When not writing, she can be found riding and racing her mountain bike throughout the Pacific Northwest. If you have cycling-related news to share, events to promote, or deep thoughts about this or any other cycling related matters, shoot her a nice email.

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