Screenings 23 August 2023
THE FREEDOM MACHINE – THE HIPPODROME CINEMA CELEBRATES CYCLING
We are hosting a special event celebrating the bicycle and its role in liberating women comes to the Hippodrome on Saturday 16th September at 2.30pm.
The bicycle has been credited with doing more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. From opening a shiny new bike on Christmas morning to the daily commute, bicycles mean many things and offer many opportunities for women across the world. The Freedom Machine – a new film edited by Scottish film curator Jo Reid – explores what freedom looks like for women cyclists over the last 100 years. Using archive footage from the UK’s film archives, this entertaining compilation shows the ways women have used the bicycle to find freedom and independence on the road, the race-track and beyond.
Accompanying the archival footage is a soundtrack by Glasgow-based sound designer and composer Cat Hawthorn, who brought a bike into the recording studio to capture the percussive sounds that permeate The Freedom Machine’s soundscape.
The Hippodrome event will feature an in-person introduction and post-screening Q&A with the director/editor Jo Reid and is presented in partnership with Spokes (campaigning for better cycling provision in Edinburgh and the Lothians) and Infrasisters (campaigning for a night-time cycling infrastructure that’s safe for women and girls). Spokes and Infrasisters will host an information stall selling specially priced West Lothian cycle maps, which contain parts of Falkirk District including Bo'ness and Whitecross, at £4 each (over 40% off), and Edinburgh, Midlothian and East Lothian cycle maps at £5 each (over 25% off).
Alison Strauss Arts Development Officer (Film and Media) and Hippodrome programmer said:
“After the excitement of the UCI Cycling World Championships coming through our local streets we’re filled with enthusiasm to dig deeper into what bikes mean to so many of us in our everyday lives and what they have meant to our mums, grannies and great-grannies. This joyous celebration of women on two-wheels reminds us of the pleasures of freewheeling with the wind in our hair (and helmets!) and, I’m sure, folk will leave the cinema inspired to get on their bikes.”
The Freedom Machine is Produced by Glasgow Film Festival and supported by Glasgow Life 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships and Film Hub Scotland.
You can get your tickets here.
