Bicycle Film Festival D.C.

“Black lives matter and Black tires matter,” said Devin Shanks during a panel with leaders and riders from Streets Calling Bike Club D.C., a group which organizes rides to support Black-owned businesses and empower riders. Streets Calling is hosting the 20th annual Bicycle Film Festival’s D.C. screenings, which include a range of shorts. The most outstanding highlight the social impact of bicycles; other shorts include everything from narrative features starring Timothy Spall to bike montages set to new wave bike beats. Among the documentary features, King of the Mountain shows how Samuel Mugisha made the Rwandan national cycling team. He speaks about the support he received from his mother and how cycling offers him and his teammates a way forward. Bike to D.C. follows the ride that some 130 riders made from New York to D.C. this summer in support of Black lives and Black cyclists. It features words from MLK’s granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, about racial equality and climate justice. The Streets Calling panel rounds these features out by offering an insight into the impact the bicycles have locally. “When you support Black-owned business, it’s a cycle, no pun intended,” says Matt Onojafe of Jafe Cycles. “What you put into the Black-owned small businesses, they will put that right back into the community.” A portion of ticket sales go to Streets Calling D.C. The festival is available at btt.boldtypetickets.com through Feb 14. $10–$20.