ShAFF 2019: Bike Films 2 15

A selection of the best biking films from the last year. Part of Sheffield Adventure Film Festival 2019 (ShAFF 2019). 100+ of the best adventure, travel and extreme sports films over one weekend in the UK's Outdoor Capital City.

1. Mother Earth - 5 minutes

   Mother Earth is a short film featuring British Columbia's First Nations and the local mountain biking community. Narrated by Daniel Wells, a member of Lil’wat First Nation, the film is talking about the deep connection both groups have with nature and the necessity to listen and protect their environment. From open meadows to ancient forests, we discover stunning landscapes that British Columbia has to offer through the riding of professional rider William Robert.

2. On Scottish Soil - 4 minutes

   Filmed in Dunkeld and Peebles Scotland, this an introduction to Female Riders Race Team, a team set-up to promote up-and-coming female riders in enduro and downhill mountain bike racing. Female Riders Race Team is a girls' cross-country (XC), downhill (DH) and enduro mountain biking (MTB) team launched in 2016 to promote, support and assist a talented group of up-and-coming female riders to race competitively in the UK and worldwide. We want to enhance the buzz around the growing female mtb racing scene and look to bridge the gap between the top elite riders and the rest of the pack. Our long-term aim is to grow the youth-side of the team to create a development platform to grow skills and enthusiasm for racing. We collaborated with Glen Thomson, who at the time was a student studying for a degree in film and had been producing edits of mountain biking events for a while. He's easy going but focused and is always able to put the riders at ease during the filming process. F-riders is a social enterprise created by female riders for female riders. Free-riders, free-stylers, female-riders: f-riders-inc are a community of riders both male and female, passionate about board and bike sports, who positively promote women and girls in these sports. We do this by reinvesting profits from the sale of high quality action sports apparel that is specifically and thoughtfully designed for females. In 2018, we grew the team to twelve riders, which included a youth team of four riders, taking the age range of our team riders from 12 to 40 years old.

3. Wild Ice - Backcountry Skating Alaska - 3 minutes

   “Backcountry skating” is the practice of hunting for wild ice, whether on on a river, lake, glacial lagoon, or inside an ice cave. Filmed in southcentral and southeast Alaska over the course of two winters, “Wild Ice” features nordic bladers, hockey players, figure skaters, and a few adventurous puppies. Shot locations include Kenai Lake, the Portage Lagoons, Turnagain Arm, Wasilla Lake, Sheridan Glacier, Byron Glacier, and Portage Glacier.

4. North Of Nightfall - 66 minutes

   Hidden among the glaciers high in the Arctic Circle are mountain bike lines too incredible to ignore. Harsh temperatures, volatile weather and nine-month winters mean the area is normally devoid of human life.