Even the hopelessly lethargic are welcome to celebrate National Bike Month. It’s true: No strenuous riding is required to partake in the festivities. You can remain peacefully seated while sipping brews and watching bicycle-related short films. Nil calories will be burned.
The Kalamazoo Bicycle Film Festival and Bell’s Brewery teamed up to host the Bike Shorts program on Tuesday, May 12 at Bell’s Eccentric Café. It features short films that are “for, about and inspired by bicycles,” according to event organizer Brian Moon.
This year’s iteration of the Kalamazoo Bicycle Film Festival focuses exclusively on the Bike Shorts program, all following simple entry rules: Each original film must be 12 minutes or less and related to bicycles. Aside from that, pretty much anything goes.
Moon says he’s shown all kinds of films over the years: dramas, comedies, socially-conscious documentaries – even music videos and animated shorts. 2015’s lineup includes selections from across the map, including Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Cuba. Moon admits that the curation process has been a bit surreal at times. “On my lunch break at work, I’m emailing people from Spain and Hong Kong,” he said.
One of Moon’s personal favorites from this year’s lineup is a documentary about a family from Buffalo, N.Y. that travels year-round with their cargo bikes. “I think it’s a cool piece because I have a family and we go all over the place by bike, but I put it away if it’s below 40,” Moon said. “These people go year-round. I look at them and think, ‘Oh, I thought that I was badass, but they are badass!’”
The festival’s genesis was in 2010 when Moon, a local triathlete and self-described bike enthusiast, teamed up with a friend at Western Michigan University to bring their unique film program to WMU’s Little Theatre. “Logically, we were like, ‘Hey, let’s bring some bike films!’ And that’s kind of how it started,” Moon said.
While the original festival took place at the Little Theatre over the course of a few days featuring both lengthier films and shorts, Moon eventually decided to simplify the event. He shortened the festival to one day and emphasized the shorts.
“The thing that everyone showed up for, and the thing that everyone was talking about, was the Bike Shorts program,” Moon said. “So through the years, that’s what we’ve focused on and continued doing.”
Then in 2014 – while Moon was helping to organize the Bell’s to Bell’s bike ride – the brewery offered to house the event at its Eccentric Cafe during Kalamazoo Bike Week. Moon is pleased with the alteration.
“It just seemed a natural fit to move it to May and be a part of Kalamazoo Bike Week and coordinate with them. We share and organize a bigger event,” Moon said. n
For more information visit: kalamazoobicyclefilmfestival.com.
