Courtesy of Bikes vs Cars:

The bicycle, an amazing tool for change. Activists and cities all over the world are moving towards a new system. But will the economic powers allow it? Bikes vs Cars, a new film project from BANANAS!* and Big Boys Gone Bananas!* director Fredrik Gertten, looks into and investigates the daily global drama in traffic around the world.

Climate change and never-ending gridlocks frustrate people more than ever. Instead of whining, people in cities around the world take on the bicycle as a Do It Yourself solution. Road rage and poor city planning creates daily death amongst the bicyclists. And now they demand safe lanes.

It’s an uneven fight. Activists and politicians that work for change are facing a multi-billion dollar car, oil and construction industry that use all their means to keep society car dependent. We know that the world needs radical changes to save the climate and the environment, but the car industry is selling more cars than ever. Today there are one billion cars in the world. By 2020, that number will double.

The film will follow the individuals around the world that are fighting to create change. We meet Aline at Sao Paulo’s Ciclofaxia, the weekly Sunday ride where one lane of Paulista Avenue is opened for bikes only. Aline is an inspirational person in the city’s bicycle movement, who tries to focus on the positive aspects of being a cyclist. But that can be difficult in a city where one bicyclist is killed every four days. And in Toronto, where mayor Rob Ford strips away the city’s bike lanes in his battle to win the “war on cars,” we watch as members of the Urban Repair Squad infiltrate the streets at night, using spray paint and stencils to replace them.

From bike activists in Sao Paulo and Los Angeles, fighting for safe bike lanes, to the City of Copenhagen, where forty percent commute by bike daily, Bikes vs Cars will look at both the struggle for bicyclists in a society dominated by cars, and the revolutionary changes that could take place if more cities moved away from car-centric models.

Born in a city where the bike is the natural choice for going from one place to another, I’ve travelled the world wondering why there are so few bicycles. Now, the car model as we know it has reached an extreme level with constant gridlock and millions of productive hours lost. Frustration is growing and cities need to look into new models.

The new urban biking is pushing this development. It’s a growing movement, which I’ve now seen around the world. People who simply put a sign on their bike saying “ONE LESS CAR.” A Do-It-Yourself attitude towards a global crisis.

It’s a positive message. If all cities adopted the model of Copenhagen, where forty percent commute within the city on bikes, it would be a radical change for the world. Something you can measure in health, pollution, oil usage.

And now the conflict. The car industry is in the center of our economic system. For the car owners and commuters that have become so invested in their lifestyle, it will be painful to change. It’s a conflict that interests me, and that is why I’ve decided to take on this project. A project of passion.

— Fredrik Gertten

Filmography:

• Jozi Gold (2019)
• Push (2019)
• Becoming Zlatan … (2015)
• Bikes vs Cars (2015)
• Big Boys Gone Bananas!* (2011)
• Bananas!* (2009)
• The Socialist, the Architect and the Twisted Tower (2005)
• An Ordinary Family (2005)
• Vägen tillbaka – Blådårar 2 (2002)
• Bye Bye Malmö (2002)
• The Death of a Working Man’s Newspaper (2000)
• Gå på vatten (2000)
• Blådårar – Om kärleken till ett fotbollslag (1998)

Here is a curated selection of links shared on our Facebook page for additional insight/information:

• 7/7/15 – Story from Fredrik Gertten in Swedish paper Dagens Nyheter. “Motorism has become a disease” Worth google translating! – link
• 7/22/15 – Via GO Bike Buffalo: “Cities are becoming far better places because they are less car-dependent. The six most walkable cities in the US are 38 per cent wealthier, they have a higher GDP than the rest.” Peter Newman, Curtin University – link
• 7/29/15 – Prior to making BIKES vs CARS, Fredrik Gertten directed this short on the development of future bicycle safety! – link
• 7/29/15 – “Fredrik Gertten’s quietly powerful eco-documentary, serves as a perfect summation of its gentle, yet direct, tone: ‘You own a car, not the street. The street belongs to all of us. This is not a war. It’s a city'”. Greg Hill-Turner, The Next Projection – link
• 8/4/15 – Did you know director Fredrik Gertten has also been involved in the creation of this biking app that “gives us a communication tool to influence friends and those in power to make cities more bike-friendly”? Download it today for free! – link
• 8/5/15 – Congrats to director Fredrik Gertten, as BIKES vs CARS has just been picked up for US distribution by Kino Lorber! – link
• 8/7/15 – Just before crossing the border to Buffalo for our screening of BIKES vs CARS at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library – Central Library, director Fredrik Gertten spoke with VICE about his new film! – link
• 10/12/15 – Congrats to Cultivate Cinema Circle alum Fredrik Gertten on being awarded the Grand Prize at the Cinemambiente Torino Environmental Film Festival for BIKES vs CARS last night! – link
• 12/06/15 – Months after our NYS Premiere of BIKES vs CARS, the film has finally reached theaters and just received a lovely review in the Los Angeles Times:
  “Director Fredrik Gertten has put in the time to capture how these cities’ unique scenarios unfold to mount a compelling case against the powerful automotive, oil and construction lobbies. Florencia Di Concilio’s lush orchestral score is icing on the cake.” – link
• 12/16/15 – BIKES vs CARS is now available to stream online via VOD: