Festival seeks films about bicycles, bicycle people, and bicycle culture in and around Southwest Virginia
Submissions are now being accepted for RIDE Solutions’ 8th annual Bike Shorts Film Festival. The Bike Shorts Film Festival features short films produced by local, national and international filmmakers featuring bicycles, bicyclists, and bicycling in interesting, creative, and surprising ways. From music videos to zombie movies, the Bike Shorts Film Festival highlights some of the incredible creativity that southwest and central Virginia has to offer.
The Festival will premiere with a screening at Roanoke’s historic Grandin Theatre on Friday, April 17th, with additional screenings in Blacksburg, Lynchburg, and Clifton Forge throughout May. Complete submission guidelines and online form can be found at www.ridesolutions.org/bikeshorts
The Bike Shorts Film Festival offers prizes in six categories:
- Juried Prize, $300: Best overall film, selected by a panel of judges drawn from the regional arts and film community.
- Best Local Film, $300: Best film submitted by a team from within the RIDE Solutions service area, selected by a panel of judges drawn from the regional arts and film community.
- Best Original Music, $300: Must feature an original song or piece of music, featured either as a stand-alone music video or as an original score. This category will also be selected by our panel of judges.
- Best Teen Film, $100: The best film by a filmmaker or film-making team between the ages of 13 and 18, as chosen by our panel of judges.
- People’s Choice, $100: The audience favorite, selected at the end of each Bike Shorts Film Festival screening. (4 total)
- YouTube Prize. $100: All submissions will be posted to our Bike Shorts Roanoke YouTube channel. At the end of May, the film with the most views will be awarded this prize
Films of any style will be considered for screening, the only requirement is that filmmakers must feature a bicycle, cyclist, or cycling in their storytelling. Narrative films or films with a complete, identifiable story arc are preferred but not required. For examples of past submissions, please visit our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/bikeshortsroanoke.
Past winners of the Bike Shorts Film Festival have had their films screened at the famous Filmed by Bike Festival in Portland, Oregon. The Bike Shorts Roanoke YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/bikeshortsroanoke features all past submissions to the festival.
As one of the lead events for its annual Ride Smart Celebration, RIDE Solutions hopes that the film festival will introduce cycling to a broad audience and encourage people to consider riding for recreation and transportation, and will support the continuing effort to support a bicycle friendly culture in central and southwest Virginia.
Visit ridesolutions.org for more information.