Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Blonde Redhead Kicks Off This Year's Bicycle Film Festival
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jun 17, 2017
Modified Jun 17, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Jun 17, 2017
Modified Jun 17, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The 17th Annual Bicycle Film Festival [do not type 'rolls' do not type 'rolls'] returns to NYC next week with over 50 short and feature length films from over 25 countries, starting with a special screening featuring a live score performed by the always interesting noise rock trio Blonde Redhead. The band wrote a new score for the 1976 cycling documentary A Sunday in Hell. Here's a look at the film with the old, original score:
The new score has never been released or performed, and the band will be accompanied by a live string section for the Wednesday night debut. The film itself chronicles the Paris-Roubaix cycling race, which features "some of the greatest cyclists ever competing in the most prestigious single-day event in professional bike racing," according to the festival organizers.
The greatest film festival since the Razor scooter film festival went out of business, the Bicycle Film Festival focuses on work that looks at the bicycle's "impact on societies worldwide and exploring universal touchstones of human rights, community, exploration, environmentalism, love and more." Though a A Sunday in Hell is the marquee film this year, other highlights include Mordechai's Five Borough Bike Tour—in which journalist Mordechai Rubinstein braves New Yorks' famed bike tour in its title— and Tall Bikes Will Save The World, which appears to be a love letter to these bikes of my nightmares. All films will be screened at Anthology Film Archives in the East Village, though A Sunday in Hell will be screened at the San Damiano Mission Church on North 15th Street in Greenpoint on Wednesday and Thursday.
In addition to the films about bikes, organizers will host an all vegan and vegetarian picnic dubbed "BFF Street Party" at the Hester Street Fair on Sunday, plus there'll be BMX demos, fancy bikes for sale, and other two-wheeled fun. There'll also be a Welcome Party at Mr. Fongs in Chinatown on Tuesday to kick off the festivities.
The festival runs June 20th through the 25th; films are $14 each, A Sunday in Hell is $20, or you could spring for a festival pass ($47) or separate Saturday and Sunday passes ($23 each). Check the schedule and purchase a ticket online.
Tagged
bicycle film festival
bikes
blonde redhead
original
Rebecca Fishbein
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Would you live on a Halloween block? These Hackensackers live for it.
A guillotine, killer clowns, clownfish: They've got it all on Clinton Place.
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 29, 2026 at 12:00 p.m. ET
Owl pellets and period equity: What's happening at NYC's public libraries this November
Also: Books!
By
Alec Hamilton
Arts & Entertainment
Owl pellets and period equity: What's happening at NYC's public libraries this November
Also: Books!
By
Alec Hamilton
How the Village Halloween Parade keeps its soul
By
Hannah Frishberg
'You Can See Everything' … as long as you go to Staten Island
By
Sonia Rao
Inside the hidden chamber that controls Lincoln Center's magnificent fountain
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .