Everyday Activist - Cycling Shorts (BMFF 2019)

Posted on Tuesday, November 05, 2019 at 05:00 PM

Cycling Shorts (Banff Mountain Film Festival 2019)

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

Because the Banff Mountain Film Festival 2019 had some great short films available online I decided to review them, before finding out what is on the World Tour list. I don’t remember Osprey having too many films in previous festivals, though I enjoyed the ones I saw. Danny Macaskill is back with his trademark Red Bull stunts in Danny Daycare as he takes care of his friend’s daughter. The Legend of Raphael talks about what my therapist refers to as Post Traumatic Growth. After two bad accidents, I aspire to have Raphael’s community impact.

I have talked about Danny Macaskill before in other reviews including a Wee Day Out, where he undertakes adventure across Scotland. This time a friend trusts Danny to babysit his toddler daughter. Getting bored of sitting inside, Danny hooks up her trailer onto his bike and they go for a ride. While the stunts are classic and the outtakes hilarious, I found a deeper message. Children need to have adults spending time with them in the outdoors. Even though rock climbing isn’t my thing, I’m happy to “hang out” with my nephew at the climbing center. Companies like MEC endorse racial diversity in the outdoors; however, the exposure starts at home. Asian families typically don’t encourage their kids to explore. By virtue of geography, I could walk to the downhill ski area and cross country ski to school. In a small town being a minority doing outdoor sports wasn’t a big deal, especially since my parents cared enough to make sure we had equipment and opportunities.

The Legend of Raphael tells the story of a poor young man, who got on his bike and just kept riding out of Mexico City until the pain of a heart break abated in Colorado. The initial idea was to stay maybe a few weeks to a month, but Raphael finds a reason to stay by fixing bicycles for friends. Soon the community grows to include friends of friends to the point where he decides to open up a bike cooperative, registering it as a non-profit to help vulnerable people access bicycles. Eventually, he spends more time on the business side of things and less on what he enjoyed the most. Making the difficult decision to execute his exit strategy, he leaves the co-op to reinvent his masterpiece in another district. Coming back for a visit, he finds his original work of art still running years later. 

Calgary Showtimes: 44th Banff Centre Mountain Film + Book Festival 2019 >