The international Motorcycle Film Festival (MFF), recognized as one of the world’s most important motorcycling events, joins Pure & Crafted to screen two nights of film, August 12-13 2016 in Berlin. The lineup will include short and feature length films, all Official Selections of the MFF in New York. The Motorcycle Film Festival brings together established and up-and-coming filmmakers, riders, builders, enthusiasts, and industry executives. Past participants and entrants have received international recognition, secured commercial distribution and funding, and have captivated worldwide audiences. Corinna Mantlo (Founder, New York) and Irene Kotnik (2016 Judge, Berlin) will be in attendance at Pure & Crafted to introduce the films and discuss the 4th annual MFF set to take place September 14-17 in New York City.
Corinna Mantlo: The Motorcycle Film Festival was founded in 2013 by Corinna Mantlo. With 15 years of riding experience, Mantlo has spent almost as much time working in and for the motorcycle community. What started as local outreach in New York City grew into the well-respected Cine Meccanica movie nights; one of the largest and active women’s motorcycle clubs in the United States, The Miss-Fires; and the international Motorcycle Film Festival. A published authority on two-wheeled cinema, Mantlo currently owns and operates Via Meccanica, a leatherwork and restoration company that specializes in custom motorcycle seats.
Irene Kotnik: Co-founder of Video Art Channel, a platform for curating and exhibiting video art. In 2014, Kotnik co-founded The Curves Motorcycle Club and is currently organizing a Petrolettes event in Berlin which will feature races, live concerts, film screenings, and more. With a passion for the positive and supportive motorcycle community, Kotnik strives to connect women in gasoline culture to pursue courage and self-expression.
Friday, August 12th
6-9pm
First Floor, Postbahnhof am Ostbahnhof, Straße der Pariser Kommune 8, 10243 Berlin
Mercury Music Prize nominees Django Django became obsessed by the infamous Indian Well of Death riders in Allahabad. So, naturally, they asked Noisey if we’d be up for travelling over to India and standing right in the middle of large lumps of precariously speeding metal for a day, to film a video for their track “Wor”. We happily obliged, getting our shoes stolen in the process, but it was worth it to meet a bunch of guys with the most rock solid testicles we’ve ever come across.
This is a short film about how my mom became the owner of a motorcycle for the My Rode Reel competition. More deeply it is about how people use objects to connect with times, ideas, and people.
What would happen if you tried to ride a totally inappropriate vehicle from one side of the country to the other?
What if that vehicle was a 15-year-old trials motorbike, a Montesa Cota 315, with no seat, a tiny 3 litre fuel tank and top speed of 30 mph? Would man and machine make it…? That’s just what Greg Villalobos and Noel Thom set out to find out.
A day-dreamer rides around the world on a motorcycle, surviving only on money he makes along the way, until he finds what he wasn’t even looking for.
Traveling by motorbike, Daniel and Lars set out on an exhilarating journey to circumnavigate the globe. Aiming to finance their trip by working as they go, they want to experience local cultures more immediately than any tourist could.
Saturday, August 13th
6-8pm
First Floor, Postbahnhof am Ostbahnhof, Straße der Pariser Kommune 8, 10243 Berlin
We follow the heartwarming yet tragic love story of Red Molly and James, in this short animated film. A film about love, motorbikes, and a redheaded girl.
Rick Monahan has dedicated his life to vintage BMW motorcycles. He didn’t watch Easy Rider, he lived it. Rick’s passion for these bikes sustained him from bad ass teen shooting down Route 66 to opening his own indie garage in order to “pollinate Western L.A. with as many BMW’s as possible.
Legendary motorcycle builder Shinya Kimura shares his design philosophy while revealing his newest custom build for Yamaha. This launched the campaign for Yamaha’s new custom build division.
1 MAP FOR 2 is a documentary about the extraordinary motorcycle world tour by Tartarini and Monetti in 1957.A trip through five continents, 35 countries and 4 revolutions. The story of the world of the past through two guys with two motorcycles, a 16mm camera and a pocket map.
MotorCircus: Christoph Köhler, Marko Kramer, Martin Lemcke, Tim Adler
Country: Germany
4 Beemers, 8 Wheels, 16 Valves. A documentary about a journey from Berlin to the Isle of Man Classic TT. The story of four ‘MotorCircus’ Berlin boys on vintage custom BMW motorcycles, taking a 4,000 kilometre road trip from the German capital to the Isle of Man, via Belgium, France and London.
The mission of the Motorcycle Film Festival is to provide a home for motorcycle films from around the world, and to give motorcycle and film enthusiasts a reason to gather, discuss, and celebrate their favorite subject at great length every fall. Members of the motorcycling community are in the midst of the biggest creative boom centered on motorcycles since the 1970s. The massive, youthful rise of motorcycle mania has excited big motorcycle factories to collaborate with rising garage artists, and has inspired professional filmmakers to produce that long-dreamt two-wheel feature film. For more information and to purchase tickets to the 2016 Motorcycle Film Festival, please visit motorcyclefilmfestival.com. You can also follow MotorcycleFilmFestival on Facebook and @motofilmfest on Instagram.
Cat Bruce won the Short Narrative award at the 2nd annual MFF for her film Vincent Black Lightning, an animated film thatfollows the heartwarming yet tragic love story of Red Molly and James, A film about love, motorbikes, and a redheaded girl. Read all about Cat and the MFF award winning film here: http://motorcyclefilmfestival.com/vincent-black-lightning/.
Vincent Black Lightning will be screened at Petrolettes festival in Berlin July 29-31 2016 as part of an MFF films from the female perspective, so we took a few minutes to check in with Cat.
MFF: What new projects do you have in the works?
CB: After making Vincent Black Lightning, I went on to make a number of promotional animations, including a music video for a band called STRAW: vimeo.com/102508143. Following that, I made a short animated film called No Place like Home, focusing on a woman dealing with the threat of eviction. The trailer can be seen here: vimeo.com/154026285. I’m currently working on a few projects including another music video, and a promotional animation for a company I’ve worked for many times, called Black Cow Vodka, who make Vodka from the milk of grass grazed cows in West Dorset, England.
MFF:How did you find out about the MFF?
CB: I just happened to come across the festival online after making Vincent Black Lightning (an animated music promo) for musician Ewan Robertson in 2014.
MFF:Have you attended the MFF?
CB: I have not attended! I would have loved to, but as I live in Scotland, it would have been a very big trip, but maybe I will go another year!
MFF: How did you get into making films?
CB: I went to Edinburgh College of Art, and originally wanted to take the sculpture course. In my first year, I tried out all sorts of stuff, and after creating an animation, I fell in love with it and decided to do my degree in animation, which lead in to freelance animation jobs and making my own films.
MFF: Was making motorcycle films always an interest, or was this film an exception in your work?
CB: It was an exception, however, I have been inspired and may venture back into the animated realm of motorcycles.
MFF: Do you ride motorcycles?
CB: I do not ride motorcycles, however I don’t drive either. I’ve always thought that if I was going to use any vehicle, it would be a motorbike, but I haven’t gotten round to it yet. So I cycle a pedal bike and make engine noises with my mouth in the meantime. MFF: Is there anything you’d like to say as a woman filmmaker of a motorcycle themed film specifically?
CB: It was a great fun film to make. For me, when I think of motorcycles, I get a sense of freedom and adventure, which is something that as a female filmmaker, really resonates. As a filmmaker, you should be adventurous in what you are making, and you have the freedom to show people how you see the world. This is an important thing to remember, especially when at the moment, there are far fewer well known female filmmakers than males. The male point of view can dominate media, and that is why it is so significant to encourage female filmmakers and filmmakers from any other minority group; so we can see that there is more than one perspective, more than one way to live, more than one way to have an adventure, and more than one way to be free.
MFF: Anything else you’d like to add?
CB: I grew up in the highlands of Scotland, where we have a yearly Harley-Davidson festival called Thunder in the Glens, and I remember as a kid I really looked forward to it. Hundreds (or what seemed like hundreds) of folk from all over the world on Harleys, and other motorbikes would ride through all the wee highland villages, until they got to Aviemore where there was music and food. And it was so loud, it really did sound like thunder. It’s quite a poignant memory, watching and hearing these big thunderous and super cool motorcycles roaring past as a small kid. So it probably has positively affected the way in which I see motorcycles. Just thought I should give it a shout out.
The Motorcycle Film Festival is built on one simple thing. The Motorcycle. It transports us from here to there. It gives us freedom. It pushes us to take chances, go farther, and test our limits. Motorcycles don’t define us, but they do become a part of us and it is this shared understanding of what they bring to our lives that brings the motorcycle community so close. For us, it’s this common bond and the relationship between Festival, Filmmakers and Audience that is the most rewarding. It’s a relationship that doesn’t end once the theatre lights go dim. It’s why we travel the world to bring the films to riders everywhere and remain in contact with all of the MFF Filmmakers. One of those filmmakers is Cam Elkins.
MFF: What new projects do you have in the works?
CE: Since I started Stories of Bike, the commercial work has really picked up. After I finished Discovery, I went on to shoot a couple of TVCs (one for a motorcycle insurance company, of course) and a stack of online content. I was also invited to help develop another Web series called The Leadership Show. I also went to the U.S. last year to shoot a new secret moto TV pilot, which I’m still editing. All of which has been keeping me pretty busy and away from doing more on Stories of Bike.
MFF: How has Stories of Bike progressed?
CE: When I first started Stories, I didn’t really have an idea of what it was going to be. All I knew was that I didn’t want to do stories about builders, but rather everyday riders. Yes, there are a couple of builder stories in there, but it’s about the reasons they ride and the particular aspect of their riding that makes their riding unique. Since then, I’ve wanted to refine this a little more and show more about who we are as people who also ride and how riding makes us see the world a little bit brighter than most.
I started shooting a little bit of Season 3 last year, but have only really been able to make some real progress in the last couple of months. So far I’ve shot 4 episodes and I’m about to head back to the U.S. in August to shoot 2 more. I’m hoping to round out Season 3 with 10-12 episodes along with a bunch of other experimental stuff, including a pay-per-view episode, new merch, and even a screening tour.
MFF: How many episodes are there now?
CE: I’ve made 18 episodes so far across 2 seasons, with a few trailers and bonus clips along the way.
MFF: Where can they be seen?
CE: They’re all up on my YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/storiesofbike or you can head to www.storiesofbike.com to watch the episodes and also get extra content like behind the scenes footage and more.
MFF: What have you discovered about yourself as a filmmaker and rider through making these films?
CE: Having only been regularly making videos for 4 years and doing it professionally for 2, you could say I started out late in the game. So, it would be safe to say that I’ve learned just about everything about being a filmmaker through the making of these Stories of Bike episodes. I started the series as a way for me to fast-track my filmmaking experience and build up the confidence to have my own style and make creative decisions without regret.
MFF: How did you find out about the MFF? What years and films have you been included?
CE: I can’t remember exactly how I found out about the MFF. I think I stumbled across it while searching for moto related film festivals that I could submit the series to. Either way, I’m glad I did. For two years running, I had 4 of my episodes selected to be shown in the 2014 and 2015 festivals.
MFF: Have you attended the Motorcycle Film Festival?
CE: I sure have! Through the amazing generosity of the moto community here in Sydney, I was given a surprise return ticket to NYC to attend the MFF in 2014. I had back surgery a few months before and missed out attending another festival where I picked up a couple of awards. Jodie, who is featured in Dream, didn’t want me missing out on another awesome event and rallied the community here to raise some money to send me over. I’ll never forget the day Jodie and a bunch of super cool mates sprung that on me at the Rising Sun Workshop. Actually attending the MFF was even better. I had the most amazing time.
MFF: Anything else you’d like to add?
CE:I just hope everyone can get along to the MFF. It’s a fantastic event with an amazing bunch of people.
MFF: Two episodes of Stories Of Bike ‘Discovery‘ and ‘Dream‘ which feature women riders, have been featured at the MFF and will travel with us to Petrolettes in Berlin, July 29-31. So we asked Cam what his experience has been filming with female riders as subjects?
CE: In my episodes, I’ve always wanted to treat women just like any other rider I feature. That might not sound like anything special, but it is because it’s still a bit of a rare thing. All of the women I’ve featured haven’t thought anything special of themselves and simply want to ride for the joy of it, but hope that more women join them in the future. I think perhaps the difference between the way that guys and girls ride is that guys can go riding for the sense of power on the bike and connection to the world around them, whereas women can do that too, but enjoy sharing that experience with others.
It has been a great pleasure each year to present award-winning filmmakers with the task of creating an original trailer for the following year’s festival. This opportunity to work with directors and film teams—and to provide them with funding and a loaner motorcycle—is truly an honor for us, and is only possible through the support of our partners. We are thrilled to present the 4th annual MFF trailer for: The Delivery by Filmmaker Paolo Asuncion. Powered by Honda.
MFF: What’s the premise for the trailer?
PA: When we heard that we had the honor of making this year’s trailer, the boys and I got together and in about 10 minutes we had nine or ten different ideas about what this trailer should be about. Is it about the subculture and how the MFF is becoming a melting pot of motorcyclists from all over the map? Or is it about the convergence of the filmmakers and the resulting divergence of ideas about what it is that constitutes a “moto film”? That conversation went off on a tangent and we started discussing our own plans about attending this year’s festival, and how getting time off from work and balancing family obligations are always hurdles. Someone said “fuck it, I’m going. No matter what it takes…” and that became the theme of the piece.
It’s all about getting it done. Whatever “it” is. Make and submit a film, attend the festival, or do both…do what you have to do to get there, no matter what is in the way, whether it’s fucking off from work or juggling family time. Or fighting off ninjas.
MFF: Who’s in the cast and crew?
PA: Robin Abert plays the hero (he’s a mechanic at O’Hanlon’s, a local motorcycle shop). Luis Baptista plays the guy he robs and also drives the camera bike. The Ramos brothers, Steve and John, play ninjas, as well as Allen Quindigan – who is a stuntman and who also choreographed the ninja alley fight scene. Frank and Erik Pascual play the Yakuza bikers and the luchadors, Hidenori Onishi plays the rockabilly gangster bodyguard, and my wife Jenn plays the big boss lady. The crew consists of Kirk as the second cam operator, myself as the main cameraman and fourth ninja, and my son Michael who acted as production support.
MFF: The trailer is filmed in one single tracking shot. Wow! What’s that all about?
PA: First we had to settle on a concept, and since we couldn’t agree, we took all the tropes and ideas we were throwing around and decided to put them all in one film. Then we started thinking about logistics, and how time consuming it was going to be to shoot so many scenes for a project that had an ASAFP deadline. The solution? Do it all in one shot.
Here’s how we did it:
Robin (our hero) enters the frame and knocks Luis to the ground and steals the loot. As Robin walks away and I follow, Luis gets up, get’s back on the bike and rides around the block and waits. As I follow Robin from behind, he is placing ninja throwing stars into holes that are pre-cut. As soon as this is done, I swing around so that now he is following me. We get to ninja alley and discover the first ninja who “throws” his stars at Robin. I walk backwards as Robin takes down the first ninja, then the second and third. I get to the fence and hand the camera (a GoPro mounted to a small steadycam gimbal) to another cameraman (Kirk) who has his arm held through the space between the planks of wood that make up the fence. I step into the frame as the fourth ninja and engage Robin. Since we are not recording audio, we are able to communicate and shout cues at each other. Kirk backs out and “slips through the fence” and as soon as he yells that he is in position, I go through the fence, landing at his feet, off camera. Robin walks past, Kirk pans over, I get up and take the camera back, follow Robin, and signal Luis to ride in and take position behind me so I can get on the bike while Robin mounts the case to the hero bike.
I’m now holding on to Luis, wearing a ninja outfit, covered in sawdust, holding a camera, filming Robin as he follows us down the street. We pass Erik and Frank and they give chase. We arrive at the delivery spot and I hop off the bike as Luis takes off to insure he doesn’t end up in the shot as Robin parks the bike. Erik and Frank – the yakuza biker assassins – arrive and Robin swiftly takes them out with the throwing stars that are still on his briefcase from the ninja alley fight. Frank and Erik drop, and as I swing the camera around, they get up, rip off their suits, take off their helmets, and take their positions inside the garage.
Robin stops short as he “discovers” Hidenory. Hidenory allows his passage and Robin enters the garage. Robin turns the corner and the camera – still filming the same shot -reveals the big boss lady, going from the ground up to her face to her extended arm, travelling across the samurai she is holding, and then panning over to Robin who hands over the case to one of the Luchador bodyguards (Erik). Boss lady (my wife Jenn) signals the other Luchador (Frank) that all is good and Frank hands the film reel to Robin.
We rehearsed the sequence in parts, and then as a whole a couple times, and then got the shot in one take. The end!! Whew!!
MFF: Tell us about a little about your Peoples Choice award winning film that made this trailer possible?
PA: Dirtbag 2: The Return of the Rattler is the answer to the question that is posed in the first Dirtbag Challenge documentary: Can you build a bike for under a thousand bucks and in under a month if you have no experience whatsoever? Since we were the epitome of “no experience”, we decided to take the challenge and film the whole thing to prove that it can in fact be done. But really, making the film was an excuse to hang out. Between making the first film and the sequel, we all got married and had kids and life kinda just got in the way of hangin’ out. Creating the sequel together, building the bike, recording music for the movie…getting to hang out again was the real reason we made a movie. I think it shows in the film and I think it’s what the festival viewers responded to when they selected the film to win people’s choice.
MFF: How did you find out about the MFF?
PA: We screened the first Dirtbag Documentary “The Dirtbag Challenge” a couple times here in San Francisco, and people seemed to enjoy it. I began to wonder if it was because the audience was familiar with the event, and I wanted to know if the movie would play well with people who weren’t familiar with the Dirtbag Challenge. I started looking into film festivals online, and that’s how I found you guys.
* The Dirtbag Challenge was an official selection film of the 2nd annual 2014 MFF
MFF: Have you attended?
PA: Yes! I’ve been to the 2nd and 3rd MFF events.
MFF: What are you working on now?
PA: Our last movie was about building a bike, and a lot of the films we see online are about the bikes themselves, or the people that build or ride them. Given those two elements, we are attempting to make a movie that illustrates the connection between the bike and the rider, while at the same time, we want to show the viewer what it takes to “build” a moto film. We are trying to show that it’s about content, not gloss. It’s kind of an experimental piece, where it has narrative elements in it, but also a behind the scenes feel to some parts of it. We’ll see how it goes. But again, besides wanting to tell a story, I get to do this with my buddies, we’re using music that my band wrote and recorded, I get to edit, my wife is even involved in this one…all of my favorite things in the world are in this one project.
MFF: Anything else you’d like to add?
PA: If you like chicken fried steak, try applying the same recipe to Spam. Oh my god, so good.
We are thrilled to present the official trailer for the 3rd annual MFF 2015 by filmmaker Daniel Rintz. Daniel won “Best Of Festival” at the 2nd annual MFF with his film “Somewhere Else Tomorrow“. With the support of Honda, the MFF was able to fund Daniel in filming a trailer for this year’s festival. No small feat as he is still on the road with limited means.
It was a such a great experience to work with such a talented filmmaker and get updates like these throughout the process.
April Email update from Guatemala:
We’ve captured the last missing shots for the trailer yesterday. The weather wasn’t cooperating until then, but now we’re very close getting it finished.
The other day got almost killed filming. We shot footage on a very nice narrow and windy road; it was newly paved. Several cars stopped and told us to “get lost”. Finally when one of them threatened to “make a phone call” we immediately left the scene. We talked to some local friends about it the next day and found out this road was only buildt and paved so they could extract Gold from the mountains in the region more easily. The people who threatened us were indigenous and do not in the least profit from the natural resources. Instead their kids are born blind, woman get sterile, and diseases are through the roof, only because they depend on the water of the land, which is now polluted because of the mining. The mining company is – of course – American. The corrupt Guatemalan government made a quick buck by selling the land to greedy corporations. We look like Gringos to the indigenous and they immediately hated our guts for obvious reasons. There was no explaining our way out of it. But we acted in time and got out.
Yesterday we found a spot where there were no miners for filming the “campsite scene,” but it was hairy to get to. Single track on the heavy bikes… We filmed till sunset and getting down in the dark I almost threw my whale of a bike down the cliff.
But it’s all good fun and adventure and everybody loved working on it.” – Daniel Rintz
Daniel & Joey
Read about Daniel Rintz’s award winning film “Somewhere Else Tomorrow” HERE.
