Watch it below...

When PDXCross burst onto the local cyclocross scene back in 2008, the bar was officially raised when it came to cyclocross photography. Simply put, these guys nailed it. There was something special happening in Portland's cyclocross scene and these guys were telling the story each week with some of the best photos of bicycling I've ever come across. In the years since, they've built a huge following, published the Dirty Pictures coffee table book, and have continued to produce breathtaking and inspiring images of the sport we all love.

Now, two of the PDXCross crew — Rob Finch and Jamie Francis — have released a short film called 'Cross-Dressed', which gives viewers a glimpse of the madness that is the annual Cross Crusade Halloween weekend. Based around the Bend Halloween cyclocross festival back in October, the 14-minute film garnered Audience Choice honors at Filmed by Bike earlier this month. And it's easy to see why: Much like their images do, the film succeeds in capturing the distinct spirit and style of Oregon cross.
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Phil Sano outside the Clinton Street Theater last Friday.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Fresh off his "Bike Smut" world tour, filmmaker, nudity activist, and bike fun provocateur Phil Sano (a.k.a. "Reverend Phil") is launching a new weekly show at the Clinton Street Theater.

Here's more from Sano via a press release sent out this morning:

Bike Smut, the homegrown international touring film festival, is excited to announce a new series of programming at The Clinton Street Theater. While busy curating the sixth year of original bike-sexual content from cyclists and perverts the world over, Bike Smut will spend the month of May screening some of their favorite past submissions and films that have paved the way, provided inspiration or just made them get their bike shorts in a twist. More than just bike movies without the sex or pornography sans bike, Bike Smut's programming promises to titillate anyone's curiosity.

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Tom LaBonty
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland

Portland-based filmmaker Joe Biel (Cantankerous Titles) has released the trailer of his latest project: a documentary about cargo bike builder Tom LaBonty titled One Less Truck.

LaBonty is the 41-year old tinkerer (and baggage handler at PDX Airport by day) who builds affordable cargo bikes (they start at around $500 if you provide the frame) from used parts in his garage in the Lents neighborhood. When we profiled him back in August 2009, he was just starting to make a name for himself around town. Now, thanks to his website, his Flickr photostream, and Craigslist, he's built and sold 55 bikes to customers around the country. (more...)

Screenshot from Canning's website.

Ever wanted to be involved with the creation of a bike film? Now's your chance. Filmmakers Liz Canning and Travis Wittwer are both working on bike film projects and they're both looking for your help.

Ms. Canning is making (R)evolutions Per Minute, a documentary about the explosion of cargo biking in America. What makes this project doubly cool is that it's being crowdsourced and Canning is calling for submissions. If your clip makes it into the final cut you'll get a "co-director" credit. But don't send the usual "I love cargo bikes!" stuff. Canning wants compelling footage that will reach out to the unconvinced.
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Does 650 laps sound like fun to you?

Remember Portlander Merritt Raitt? He's the amateur filmmaker whose "Commuter Dreams" piece went viral (over 64,000 views and counting), became the toast of film festivals nationwide, and even won him a trip to the Tour de France.

Raitt's next project is based just a few feet from his front door near Ladd Circle in Southeast Portland.

"I often ride centuries on the weekend," Raitt told me about his new project, "and for some time now I have been thinking that it would be cool to ride a century on the circle." (more...)

Still from The Bicycle City.
- Watch trailer below-

We all know the myriad benefits of bicycling (whether you ride them or not), but it's not often that the power of this simple invention to fundamentally change lives is told by people who aren't advocates or politicians.

Greg Sucharew is a documentary filmmaker working on a project to do just that.

Greg got in touch with us a few days to tell us about his current project, The Bicycle City (watch trailer below). The film is about the transformative power bicycles have had on the impoverished, war-torn town of Rivas, Nicaragua. Here's more from Sucharew: (more...)

In the last few hours I've come across three videos that you don't want to miss.

The first is the latest from Streetfilms. In their first-ever foray into Asia, it focuses on the bustling metropolis of Guangzhou, China. One of the fastest growing cities in the world, Guangzhou is "winning the future" with the most inspiring example of Bus Rapid Transit I have ever seen.

According to Streetfilms, the Guangzhou BRT system opened in February 2010 and it now carries 800,000 passengers a day, "seamlessly connecting riders to both the metro system and the city's new bike-share network." BRT is fascinating to me and it seems to be a big success whenever it's done right. Trouble is, in America BRT seems to have taken a back seat to rail transit (which is a lot more expensive and takes years to implement). My gut says there's a lot of cultural bias and politics wrapped into that trend. Maybe China's success will raise some eyebrows... (more...)

Stills from just some of the
many films that will
screen during the
Bicycle Film Festival.

Get ready to be inspired and entertained by a wide variety of bicycle-themed films. The Bicycle Film Festival and Filmed By Bike are both gearing up for 2011.

The Bicycle Film Festival has just announced dates and screenings for their 2011 Portland stop. This two-day festival, founded by New York City resident Brendt Barbur, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year with a mind-boggling lineup of the best bike films gleaned from around the globe. I'm looking forward to this documentary about Italian frame builder Giovanni Pelizzoli, also known as "Ciocc" (a legendary brand that my stepdad happens to be a huge fan of).

Watch the trailer below... (more...)

Do you remember?

Portland filmmaker Chad Berkley is making a film about the Community Cycling Center's awesome annual event, the Holiday Bike Drive. Remember Your First Bike? is slated for completion next spring but Berkley has already put together a trailer for the film and has just launched a Kickstarter page to help raise some funds to finish it up.

In the film, Berkley takes a behind the scenes look at how the magical 500 bike giveaway happens and interviews CCC volunteers and staffers for their perspectives. Berkley also includes interviews with notable Portlanders including Mayor Sam Adams and others. (more...)

A new Streetfilm (watch it below) taken during the recent Velo-City Global conference in Copenhagen is like a refuge in a storm.

Here in Portland (and across the country), we still struggle with resentment over bike lanes, a local media that's happy to stir it up, people wanting to ban bikes completely because they're simply in the way, people on bikes who can't be bothered to slow down for other bike traffic, and public transit employees whose actions and words make our streets less safe for people on bikes.
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Official poster.

If you've got Tour de France fever than mark your calendar for July 22nd when the film Chasing Legends comes to town.

Chasing Legends is the latest from filmmaker Curtis Winsor and his Gripped Films crew. The movie gives viewers an inside look at big-time professional road racing as it follows team HTC-Columbia through their 2009 Tour de France campaign.

Here's the blurb:

"There is no greater sporting event in all of cycling than the Tour de France. Chasing Legends touches on the rich history, passion and true grit of The Tour as seen through the eyes of Team HTC Columbia along with commentary from Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen, Eddy Merckx, and some of the sports most prolific heros. With a stunning array of HD cameras, on-bike cameras, and poignant and touching interviews, "Chasing Legends" will take viewers deeper into the pro peloton than ever on a roller coaster ride of action, story and emotion."

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Watch Hitler expound on
Portland's bike scene in
the video below.
(Still from the movie Downfall)

Portland filmmaker Joe Biel has collaborated with veteran local bike scene participant Allan Folz on Mien Fiets, a short video that attempts to explain what has happened to bike activism in Portland since the demise of Critical Mass (a ride that once rallied locals in the hundreds, now barely even exists).

Mein Fiets, a crowd favorite at Filmed by Bike where it debuted back in April, was made by using a creative translation of the oft-parodied bunker scene from the 2004 film Downfall about the last 10 days of Adolf Hitler. (more...)

Big crowds inside and out at opening
night of Filmed by Bike.
-Photo Gallery-
(Photos © J. Maus)

Filmed by Bike's Opening Night Throwdown street party was the perfect way to kick of Portland's bike season. On Friday night, nearly 1,000 people flocked to SE Clinton street to revel in the scene both inside and outside the theater.

Whether you were there as a film buff, a bike lover, as an excuse to party, or all of the above -- chances are you weren't disappointed. After six years of putting on this event (and countless others), bike event mastermind Ayleen Crotty put all the right ingredients together for another memorable opening night. (more...)

Filmed by Bike...the hottest ticket in town!
(Photos © J. Maus)

Filmed by Bike starts tomorrow with Clinton Street opened up for the Opening Night Throwdown.
Local bike event organizer/promoter extraordinaire Ayleen Crotty has clearly outdone herself this year. Crotty -- whose Filmed by Bike event started in 2003 as a small, grassroots film fest -- has blown-up into a major happening the likes of which have never been seen in the bike film world.

This year, Crotty has added tons of new features, screenings, and events into the mix. Tomorrow's "Opening Night Throwdown" will close SE Clinton Street to cars for a street party that Crotty says will include the "largest bike parking setup Portland has ever seen." (more...)

Conrad Miller (Jayme S. Hall) and
Steve Jones (Elle Poindexter) in
a screenshot from the film.
-Watch the trailer below-

The Bicyclists, a new movie based on The Bicyclist webisode series, premieres tonight at the Hollywood Theater.

The entire film was shot in Portland and is steeped in local bike culture. The story revolves around Conrad Miller (played by actor Jayme S. Hall), a small-town guy from Wisconsin who moves to Portland for two months of fun before he has to return home to run the family cheese factory.

Here's a bit more from the film's website: (more...)

Nathan Hellman, editor-in-chief of Portland State University's Daily Vanguard newspaper, has issued an apology for a harshly worded movie review they published on March 5th. The paper has also printed two letters from student groups and faculty members that objected to the review's content and called for the paper to take action to remedy the situation.

In the review, Stover E. Harger III doled out some stinging criticisms of Veer: A documentary film about bicycling culture. Here's a passage that many felt crossed the line (emphasis mine): (more...)

Portland State University's Daily Vanguard newspaper has published a very negative review of the new film, Veer: A documentary film about bicycling culture.

Vanguard staff writer Stover E. Harger III gave the film 1 star out of 5 and wrote that, "it's really awful". Harger also wrote that filmmaker Greg Fredette has created "a self-indulgent piece of fluff that plants its feet way too close to its subjects to be anything but clichéd and boring."

Reading his review, it's obvious that Mr. Harger III is no fan of some aspects of Portland's bike culture, or the people who are a part of it. Here's a snip from his review (emphasis mine): (more...)

What has happened to Critical Mass in Portland?

A trailer has just been completed for a forthcoming documentary that will explore that question: A Post Critical Mass Portland: Living in a Post-Revolutionary Bicycle Age. You can watch it here:

A Post-Critical Mass Portland: Living in a Post-Revolutionary Bicycle Age from Joe Biel on Vimeo.

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Veer movie poster.

Veer, a feature length documentary film that focuses on Portland bike culture, made it's world premiere at the Victoria Film Festival last week. The screening was the first time the film had been seen outside of Portland.

Victoria resident Lauren Warbeck was at the premiere. She wrote via email that so many people showed up that many were turned away and a second screening was added. Warbeck added that the crowd was energetic and that there was "a lot of interaction with the film". "People laughed a lot...They LOVED the zoobomb and the tallbikes. The whole theatre cheered and clapped when the bicycle bill got passed. Basically, the whole theatre was pretty amped and inspired." (more...)

The party outside Filmed by Bike
will have much more breathing room
this year.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Ayleen Crotty, the bike culture dynamo behind Filmed by Bike, stopped by our office yesterday with an update on what's in store for the event this year.

The big news is a free street party on opening night made possible by the complete closure of SE Clinton Street to motor vehicles from SE 25th to 26th. Much of the fun of Filmed by Bike happens outside the theater, and in years past, passing cars have dampened the size and the spirit of the party. Having a closure will not only make it safer for event-goers, it will also open up new possibilities like a beer garden and community booths and other vendors. (more...)