There are many things that I think make life worth living, and for me a
few of these things include great film and great people. Getting to live and
play in the electric city that is Sydney, I have been lucky enough to get to
volunteer at a few of the amazing events that our city holds every year and
have met some talented and passionate people along the way. This weekend just
gone, Sydney held one of these brilliant events, of which I was able to partake
in.
Over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, there were these great cinema
events at Taylor Square on Oxford Street, called “Cycle in Cinema”. Now imagine
old school images of loved up couples in Cadillacs, sitting at the drive-in
cinema, watching some black and white movie about a teenage mutant lobster zombie
rampaging the all American teenagers’ burger joint. Now imagine instead of
sitting in your car, you’re sitting on your bike, pedalling away to power the
moving image and generate the sound. Well, that was the basic gist of “Cycle in
Cinema”, a series of cinematic events produced by the City of Sydney as part of
the parent event We Make This City. Now don’t get me wrong, you didn’t need
your bike and not everyone had their bike BUT everyone got a chance to ride one
of the several bikes that were hooked up to this amazing system that generated
the movie. People brought picnic blankets and there were some tyres to chill
out on as a different series of short films were screened each night.
We Make This City, is basically a series of
events that creatively address the problem of climate change and need for
sustainability, positing that with all the education and awareness about the
problem and the solutions, why aren’t we, as individuals and as a collective,
doing anything about it? Specifically Cycle in Cinema engages with ideas about
renewable energy and its potential through pedal-power. I found it a really
experimental and thrilling way to experience film and it really appeals to your
social conscience. This event couldn’t have been made possible without the
driving force of an organisation called Magnificent Revolution Australia. Their
partner organisation in the UK developed the technology to generate and harvest
energy through pedalling on a bike and having held heaps of events across
Europe and even a few in Asia, its been brought to Australia, with a roaring
success! Yay!
I thought it was such a brilliant, chilled out series
of events. The first two nights were held outdoors at Taylor Square, with a
screen set up against the old conveniences and the third night, due to wet
weather, was held in this slightly abandoned looking bar down the road. All
three nights had a great turn out and the variety and quality of films
showcased was inspiring, thoughtful and hilarious. I was an invigilator, so I
basically helped out where needed but the great perk of this volunteer job was
that I got to watch the films as well.
Friday hosted a special Queer night, in
recognition of Mardi Gras; the films were humorously poignant and in a
genuinely funny way reflected upon the gay experience. I know that is a bit
wanky but there was this one film, DIK that just blew my mind! It was about a
conversation between a married couple regarding their homosexual experiences,
catalysed by something their son innocently drew. I actually thought Sunday was
the best night in terms of the films screened. It was all about sustainability
and you need to look them all up now! I can’t describe them enough and they
were short, incredibly educational, eye opening, and brilliant pieces of
cinema. Go now: Plastic Bag; Hairytale; Waste Not; Skipping Dinner; and Magic
Harvest. I’ve included the link to Plastic Bag, because it’s totally a life
changing, tears in the eyes movie about, a plastic bag. Yep you read that
right, I cried a tad bit from this one.
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