By Chesney Hearst, Senior Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Cine Pedal Brasil festival will take place in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday, May 21st and Sunday, May 22nd in the Parque dos Patins in Lagoa. Promoting the use of clean energy, the event is a traveling audiovisual festival that includes free, outdoor screenings of films whose projection is powered by human energy harnessed through the pedaling of bikes.
During the event, participants need to generate 1300 watts to power the projection of the films that will be screened. To create the energy there will be ten stationary bikes and ten bases where participants can place their own bikes plus one manual pedal for children, the elderly and differently-abled participants.
The two films that will be screened are “Bikes vs Cars” and “5 Times Chico-The São Francisco River and his People”. “Bikes vs Cars” is a 2015 documentary by Fredrik Gertten that examines the impact of bike riding and the activity’s role in future city planning.
The film “5 Times Chico-The São Francisco River and his People” is a 2015 documentary that includes five directors views of the São Francisco River and the people whose lives center around it. The river, also known as Old Chico, runs through the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais, Bahia, Pernambuco, Alagoas and Sergipe.
In addition to the film screenings, there will be two discussions about the environment and sustainability hosted by filmmaker and the event director of Cine Pedal, Adriana L. Dutra.
“We are one step closer to experiencing another innovation in cinema! We believe in using the production of audiovisuals as an awareness tool,” said Dutra on the festival’s website. “Through this innovative technology, we want to spread the knowledge about renewable energy. The proposal for an event where all the energy used is generated from bikes is unprecedented. The project concept paves the way for new ways of thinking about production and generation of clean energy.”
CinePedal Brasil 2016 is created and produced by Inffinito; presented by Cielo; and sponsored by Multiplus. The Rio de Janeiro events mark the first stop of the festival’s tour.
Following the event in Parque dos Patins, the festival will move one to Florianópolis then to Porto Alegre. Next, the festival will go to São Paulo and then finally to Belo Horizonte.
For more information, see the CinePedal Brasil 2016 website.
What: Cine Pedal Brasil
When: Saturday, May 21st and Sunday, May 22nd, 3PM – 9PM
Where: Parque dos Patins, Av Borges de Medeiros – Lagoa
Entrance: FREE