An Unexpected Covid Silver Lining: Connecting the Global Bike CommunityHow the Filmed by Bike film festival persevered during this challenging time In the early months of 2020, people around the world stayed indoors, unsure of what activities were safe during the increasingly confusing and scary global COVID-19 pandemic. For a while, there wasn’t yet any information on whether or not it was safe to ride bikes, especially in groups. This had the bike culturists at Filmed by Bike concerned. “We worried about people’s mental health. We know bike riding is how many people stay mentally healthy and keep themselves feeling good physically,” says Festival Director Ayleen Crotty. “In addition to that, for many people riding bikes with others is their social outlet. There’s less pressure to talk and make eye contact while on a bike, which also makes it an important part of life for some people who struggle with social interactions.” So Filmed by Bike decided to do something about it. As a film festival with, at that time, 17 years of experience and a deep film archive, they knew they could at least entertain people a little bit with some of the films they had on file. “Of course, we couldn’t make all the challenges of quarantine and the pandemic go away,” Ayleen explains, “But if we could at least take people’s minds off it for a little while, we felt we could make a difference. |
