ROUGH RIDERS

Film Festival brings biking to the big screen

Comments (0) By Heather Baysa Tuesday, Jun 15 2010

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Get yourself in gear for some vicarious exercising of the highest caliber. The Bicycle Film Festival, having pedaled into the hearts of 37 international cities, now returns to its native New York for the fest's 10th anniversary. Tonight, you can catch The Birth of Big Air, directed by Jeff Tremaine and produced by Spike Jonze—a bio of the seriously smashed and thrashed forefather of BMX, Mat Hoffman, whose trick riding can probably be appreciated from your safe, cushy theater seat just as much as it can spiraling above the vert. Tomorrow, see Bicycle Dreams, about the 10-day cross-country challenge, in which riders battle exhaustion and sleep deprivation to bike America from coast to coast, or Urban Bike Shorts, a series of mini-documentaries covering the lives of bike messengers, marathon riders, and everyone in between. Sunday wraps up with the world premiere of Empire, a feature on New York's best urban cyclists. An after-party will follow the screenings each night.
Fri., June 18, 7:30 p.m.; June 19-20, noon, 2010