{"id":36514,"date":"2018-07-23T08:26:12","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T15:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=36514"},"modified":"2020-05-22T12:58:13","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T19:58:13","slug":"a-new-documentary-shows-how-bicycles-are-a-tool-for-womens-empowerment-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/cycle\/a-new-documentary-shows-how-bicycles-are-a-tool-for-womens-empowerment-in-afghanistan","title":{"rendered":"A New Documentary Shows How Bicycles Are a Tool For Women’s Empowerment in Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Relatively affordable, safe and efficient, bicycles have long played a key role in movements for women\u2019s equality, <\/span>starting with the American suffragettes in the late 19th century<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet me tell you what I think of bicycling,\u201d said<\/span> Susan B. Anthony, the famous women\u2019s rights activist, in 1896<\/span><\/a>. \u201cI think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More than a century later, the bicycle continues to grant women across the world new, hard-fought freedoms and independence. This is the subject tackled by a new documentary, <\/span>Afghan Cycles<\/span><\/i><\/a>, which premiered this past spring at the Canadian film festival, Hot Docs, and will be touring through the United States this fall. <\/span><\/p>\n

Five years in the making, director<\/span> Sarah Menzies<\/span><\/a> embedded herself with the cyclists on the Afghan Women\u2019s National Cycling Team to tell a story about passion and adversity. The narrative is driven mostly by interviews with the athletes and their coaches, and they portray a stark, authentic picture of what it is like for a woman in Afghanistan to ride a bike. Menzies filmed the women during their prayers and when they get ready to ride their bikes. They tie head scarves under the helmets and wear long-sleeve bike uniforms, even in the desert heat, to stay covered. Midway through the film, <\/span>Afghan Cycles<\/span><\/i> documents escalating tensions and instability in Afghanistan, which Menzies says troubled the team and made them feel more at risk of violence. Still, the athletes remained determined to speed down a road and compete in races. Menzies honed in on the story of one team member in particular, Frozan, who flees Afghanistan and seeks asylum in France.<\/span><\/p>\n