A film festival hoping to encourage more people to get on their bike has just started in Wellington.
The New Zealand Bicycle Film Festival is a celebration of bikes and the people that love to ride them.
Wellingtonians in particular have a reputation for enjoying a bike ride, despite the challenges they face in the area.
"Wellington's really steep. There's often a headwind, the roads are pretty narrow, but for all of those reasons Wellingtonians are gritty people," Diane Pivac, Ngā Taonga outreach and engagement manager, told Newshub.
Ngā Taonga has put on The New Zealand Bicycle Film Festival as a love letter to the capital's devotion.
"Bikes are part of our DNA. We've been riding them for 200 years," Ms Pivac said.
It's an unconventional theme, but Wellington's cyclists are happy they're being catered to - and surprised there are that many films about bikes.
"I think it's cool for us to get together because I feel like sometimes it's us versus the cars," one filmgoer told Newshub.
Another couple were keen to "see the history of it, and people putting it into movies".
Films being screened include Rising from Ashes, about Rwandan genocide survivors forming an Olympic cycling team, and The Bicycle Thief, an Italian film considered one of the best of all time.
There's also a selection of Kiwi short films, curated by director Brett Cotter.
"I've always had a love for bikes and thought, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful to put a collection of bike movies together and showcase it around the world'," he told Newshub.
The Festival is not just for those that love to ride - it also aims to inspire any movie-goer to trade in four wheels for two.
"I had a gentleman bring along his partner, and he sent me an email two weeks later saying, 'My girlfriend's riding a bike now'," Cotter said.
"And you've done it, you've pushed her over the edge because the stories are about real people."
The New Zealand Bicycle Film festival runs until April 8 so for those wanting to head along, you better get on your bike.
Newshub.
