Still We Ride

On the last Friday of April, hundreds of cyclists across the city will once again come together to participate in a monthly community bike ride called Critical Mass. The ride, which originated in San Francisco in 1992 has since spread throughout the world and has existed for over 6 years in New York City. On May 12, 2005, three NYC filmmakers will unveil a new piece of work called Still We Ride. The documentary, produced by In Tandem productions, takes an up-close and personal look at the city’s ongoing attempts to squash the free-forming event.

The story begins on Friday August 27, 2004 in New York City, just days before the start of the Republican National Convention, when 264 people were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and parading without a permit during the monthly bicycle celebration. But unlike the majority of the RNC-related arrests, which have been dismissed, bicycle-related arrests and bike seizures at monthly Critical Mass rides have persisted. Most recently, in March of 2005, there were 37 arrests and an even higher number of bike seizures. The monthly pattern of confrontation has forced the bike community into a legal battle with the city and has politicized the once celebratory ritual. The city believes that the event, which has no leadership organization or planned route must apply for a permit in order for cyclists to assemble and ride through the streets. “You’re blocking traffic,” says the assistant chief Smolka, in one scene. A cyclist replies, “I am traffic! What do you mean?”

Lawyers on the cyclists’ side recognize that selective enforcement of such laws represent not only a threat to cyclists’ rights to the road as legitimate vehicles, but to peoples’ first amendment right to assemble freely in parks and other public spaces. In the words of an interviewee who was arrested on the night of August 27, “I saw my experience not so much as something that happened to me, but as a window of opportunity for greater suppression of rights in this country.”

For five months, a small team of producers has been gathering hours of footage from independent videographers who have been documenting the ongoing harassment of Critical Mass. The resulting video is a collage of sound and imagery that is often raw and gritty and sometimes absolutely beautiful. It illustrates the most striking stories from the ongoing saga and condenses them into a continuous narrative. Still We Ride is directed by Elizabeth Press, Andrew Lynn, and Christopher Ryan and produced with the help of Brendt Barbur, director of the Bicycle Film Festival.

“The Bicycle Film Festival is an ideal stage for Still We Ride,” says co-director Elizabeth Press. “This is happening right now, and a lot of people either don’t realize it, or think that it does not have to do with them.” The majority of the imagery presented was shot in New York City, but little of it has had the opportunity to be on display to the public. May is National Bike Month, but the filmmakers hope to make a splash that will ripple beyond the bicycle community.

ON THE 11-15 THERE WILL BE A CRITCALL MASS ON THE STREETS OF SHEFFIELD MEET 830am ON THE 11TH 430pm ON THE 15 THE MEETING POINT FOR BOTH ARE DEVONSHIRE GREEN..

THE ONE ON THE 15 WILL HAVE A RE DIRECTION MEETING POINT A E MAIL CONATCT AND PHONE NO WILL BE PUBLISHED TWO WEEKS BEFOR MORE INFO ON SHEFFIELD ACTIONS AGINST THE G8 GOTO HERE
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/sheffield/2005/04/309977.html
ALL SO SEE HERE  http://sheffield.dissent.org.uk/

Sheffield Critcall Mass: