Regular readers of this column may have noticed that I have an affinity for bikes. It started as a kid when my world suddenly tripled in size, all because I could get around faster on two wheels. The bikes I owned during my youth not only represented independence from my parents driving me around, but they were also a means to better physical and mental health—critical things for a growing body and mind.
I now live in a part of the world that I’d consider mountain-bike obsessed. We have some of the best trails in the world, the biggest and best bike park, and one of the biggest mountain bike festivals to celebrate it all (the only thing we’re missing is hosting a stop for the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup, but that’s a story for another time). But when we zoom out from the regional lens of loamy singletrack and perfectly sculpted berms, bicycles mean a lot more to a lot more people. Bikes transcend borders and cultures, and the ultra-efficient form of transportation is so much more than lessening traffic and decreasing carbon emissions. Every bike has the potential to change a life. This is the central theme of Anthill Films’ The Engine Inside, a documentary a decade in the making which premieres Saturday, June 24 at the Maury Young Arts Centre.
“About 10 years ago we started talking about making a film to celebrate how people are using the bicycle around the world and how it can improve all of our lives,” says director and co-founder of Anthill Films Darcy Wittenburg. “At the time, we were looking at it from more of the sports and recreational perspective. Because (Anthill Films) came from mountain biking, we were thinking how we could celebrate the fun aspects of things like road cycling, gravel and adventure travel. But the more we started to dig into the stories, the more we realized we needed to make it about people. More specifically, people who represent the different sides of cycling around the world.”
After extensive research, Wittenburg and his production team at Anthill Films found six cyclists who not only had their own life-changing experience with a bike, but who champion the sport of cycling in their communities. Like Janice Tower, who recently completed the 563-kilometre trans-Alaska Iditarod Trail Invitational in winter (on a fat bike) for the second time after turning 60 years old. Or Nouran Salah, who founded Cairo’s Cycling Geckos—the first female cycling movement in Egypt—in a country where women on bikes is still not considered socially acceptable. Or Kwabena Danso, who has built a business fabricating bamboo bikes in order to affect social change for farmers, workers, and children in rural Ghana.
While the film does focus on positive change, it’s not shy in portraying the adversity the subjects of the documentary have lived through. The interviews with Indigenous mountain biker Jay Bearhead are particularly visceral, but give an important glimpse into how a person can rebound from rock bottom.
“Jay’s story ran a lot deeper than we first realized,” says Wittenburg. “The first things we knew about him were that he had recovered from addiction, he had been homeless for some time, and he credits the bike as having saved his life. The more we got to know Jay and his story, the more we learned about the circumstances of how he got there, and a big part of that was the abuse he suffered at a residential school. We wanted to do Jay’s story justice and give it the
proper respect it deserves. That’s why it ended up being such a big part of the film.”
At 83 minutes long, The Engine Inside is about twice the length of your typical action sports film. And while impressive urban cycling action is featured, the point of the film is more about our potential for change as a society. The narration is delivered by the familiar voice of Phil Ligget, whose coverage and commentary on the Tour de France for the last 50 years has earned him the moniker “The Voice of Cycling.” When you package it all together with Anthill’s stellar cinematography and sharp editing, The Engine Inside leaves the audience more motivated than ever to ride their bike—and hopefully convert a few more people to cyclists along the way.
“The Engine Inside is about unlocking the bicycle as a simple, and often overlooked, solution for many of our challenges for our society,” says Wittenburg. “The timing and the message of this film has never been as poignant or as urgent as it is now. We hope this empowers people all over the world to ride their bikes and know that a better future is possible.”
The Engine Inside won Best Storytelling and Film of the Year at IF3Bike, as well as the Outstanding Achievement Award at Better Earth International Film Festival, and is an Official Selection at the Maui Film Festival. It premieres at the Maury Young Arts Centre on June 24 at 7 p.m. (all ages) and 9 p.m. (19+). Tickets are available at.showpass.com/the-engine-inside.
Vince Shuley believes in bikes. For questions, comments or suggestions for The Outsider email [email protected] or Instagram @whis_vince.
