18th Annual Bicycle Film Festival Returns for the City’s Cycling Creatives

New York’s long-standing Bicycle Film Festival returns for a whopping eighteenth year between June 19-24 at Anthology Film Archives. It’s a whirlwind gathering of biking and film buffs that brings together the urban cycling community not only in New York, but also around the globe. The festival has hosted more than one million cycling enthusiasts in ninety-plus cities.

Brendt Barbur established the cinematic endeavor in 2001 after a bus plowed into him while he rode his bike. He “insisted on turning his negative experience into a positive one,” per the festival’s website. Jonas Mekas, founder of Anthology Film Archives and the “godfather of avant-garde cinema” according to the Bicycle Film Festival, also lends support to the event’s widespread reach.

A robust lineup of films over the six-day festival tackles both short, lighthearted topics and deeper dives like Afghan Cycles, a harrowing film by Sarah Menzies chronicling the day-to-day routine of female cyclists in Kabul. The festival opens Tuesday, June 19 with a raging vegan garden party at Brooklyn Bike Park along the Williamsburg Waterfront.

To purchase tickets and see the rest of the lineup, visit their website here.