Director: Cheryl Dunn

Running Time: 24:00

For more information visit: www.hkm.com

Cheryl Dunn, www.cheryldunn.net

Official Selection:
• Tribeca Film Festival, (NYC) • Res Fest - 35 Country Tour
• Darklight Film Festival (Dublin, Ireland)
• Raindance Film Festival (London, England)
• Palm Springs Short Film Festival (Palm Springs, CA)
• Bicycle Film Festival, San Francisco, CA. (NYC)
• Track 16 Gallery (Santa Monica, CA)

This docudrama chronicles the philosophies and activities of the hardcore bicycle gangs of New York City, as they vow to take back the streets.

Cheryl Dunn first gained success as a commercial photographer, but later found inspiration in film and fine arts. Her work emphasizes the importance and value of unaffected creative expression, free thinking, and nonconformity in youth and street culture.

What inspired you to make this piece?

I've always been a big fan of Walter Hill's film THE WARRIORS and felt as NYC becomes more crowded and gentrified, where everyone is fighting for space, that bikers were sort of the new warriors. As a rider myself in Manhattan for over two years, I definitely felt the pinch for space and territory and felt that these crews of bikers were sort of like the gangs of the '70s.

Briefly tell us how you made your film or video: what camera and format did you use to shoot your piece, and what system did you use to edit it? What is your working process? Did you use any special techniques to make this work?

I casted the gangs through word of mouth and Craigslist. I shot the project on a Panasonic 24p camera. We started editing on a Avid Express and changed to Final Cut Pro and color corrected it and finished on Digi Beta.

Do you have any interesting behind-the-scenes stories about the making of this particular work?

When we shot the Puerto Rican Schwinn club, part of the scene was a big meal of rice and beans in their clubhouse. We filmed the preparation and meal for the film. Then the whole crew had a feast and went on the street for a big dance party with salsa music playing out of the giant speaker rigged to the tricked-out Schwinn tricycle. I felt like I was in another country instead of Bushwick, Brooklyn.

What is the relationship between your work as a video/filmmaker and life in the New York metropolitan area?

Well, I have always romanticized NY or looked for the things about this multicultural city of the world that make it such a special place and the place that I choose to live. It's a place that I was dying to get to as a kid and the place that I am very proud to live and be part of its arts community. I think the preservation of New York's artist community as well as the city's ethnic diversity is something very valuable and is as important to protect as its architecture and other things that people recognized long ago and set up agencies to do so. As this city becomes nearly impossible for artists and nonrich [people] to afford, I feel that maybe filmic expression that celebrates these groups can reach many people and give them a voice and recognition.

What films/videos and makers have inspired you or influenced your work? And why?

The Maysle brothers [and] Frederick Wiseman, because of their unobtrusive fly-on-the-wall, intelligent documentary styles.

If viewers are interested in obtaining copies of your work for rental or purchase, whom should they contact and at what address and phone number?

They can go to my Web site, cheryldunn.net.