Synopsis

Bikes vs Cars depicts a global crisis that we all deep down know we need to talk about: climate, earth's resources, cities where the entire surface is consumed by the car. An ever-growing, dirty, noisy traffic chaos.   The bike is a great tool for change, but the powerful interests who gain from the private car invest billions each year on lobbying and advertising to protect their business.   In the film we meet activists and thinkers who are fighting for better cities, who refuse to stop riding despite the increasing number killed in traffic.      

Director's statement

Born in Malmö, Sweden, a city where the bike is the natural choice for going from one place to another, I’ve traveled the world wondering why there are so few bicycles. Now, the car model as we know it has reached an extreme level with constant gridlock and millions of productive hours lost. Frustration is growing and cities need to look into new models.   The new urban biking movement is pushing this development. People simply put a sign on their bike saying “ONE LESS CAR.” A Do-It-Yourself attitude towards a global crisis. It’s a positive message in depressing times.   If all cities adopted the model of Copenhagen, where forty percent commute within the city on bikes, it would be a radical change for the world. Something you can measure in health, pollution, oil-usage. And now the conflict. The car, oil and construction industry is in the center of our economic system. They are the ones who don’t want change, and if only in their pace even if the planet needs instant action.    

Why this choice?

A militant film that shows us what a disaster cars are for the environment and our health, thanks to numbers and statistics.   Denouncing industrial lobbyists and their complicit politicians, it presents the people involved in the anti-car fight with their bike as their weapon.   Through their battle to give bikes more room in the cities, these witnesses to a softer way of moving around invite the audience to also change his or her way of transportation.    

Awards

-Docs Against Gravity Film Festival - Special Mention, 2015 -UK Green Film Festival - Audience Award, 2015 -Tempo Documentary Award - Honourable Mention, 2015 -Cinemambiente Environmental Film Festival - Best Film, 2015 -Urban TV Awards – Best Documentary, 2015 -Int. Filmwochenende Würzburg - Audience Award, Best Documentary, 2016 -Le Club des Villes et Territoires Cyclables annual award – Talents du Velo, 2016 (awarded to director Fredrik Gertten)