About

THE BIG BIKE FILM NIGHT our 2022 tour went across New Zealand from February until late June and… visited Australia over August to October. 

Our 2022 treasure chest of films included one rider’s colourful adventure through dramatic landscapes to the illumination of hot air balloons; a small School’s ambitious plan to create a sustainable way to increase students hauora (a Māori philosophy of health and well-being); three friends mission to the centre of South America on a treacherous 2500-kilometre bike and raft trip; a camp designed for female athletes to ride together and progress together; a group of young rowdies expressing their individuality through uni-cycling; a bicycle that is transformed into a work of art; a trail builders’ creative expression coming to life before your very eyes; AND one man’s journey from India to Germany on a tandem bike, who on his way picks up strangers to inform them about modern day slavery; ALL in the mix!!

THE BIG BIKE FILM NIGHT 2021 and 2020 tour – WOW!! What a set of covidcoaster rides THAT was across New Zealand and Australia.

Our 2021 tour was the largest undertaken to date visiting new places across Australasia to helping to spread the bike stoke.

The 2021 treasure chest of films included one man’s mission to ride EVERY street across New Zealand, an unusual Victorian pastime taking place in modern London; an Australian female rider who goes back in time to carry the stories of the past into the future; a rider who has a burden of blindness and its vulnerabilities to contend with while undertaking a gruelling self-supported fat bike race across the frozen tussocks of Finland; four adventurers bikerafting and exploring historical trails to and from one of New Zealand’s most significant rivers; a humble BMX Club with big dreams of becoming the number one Club in the UK; a film that celebrates the growing, sustainable type of tourism where everyone is a winner, and a unique bike builder who builds off-road cycles that help change people’s lives; ALL in the mix!!

We also brought a ‘SOUTH’ and ‘THE OLD WORLD’ to a number of locations in NZ with two super awesome uplifting and inspiring feature length documentaries.

THE BIG BIKE FILM NIGHT 2019 toured across New Zealand with our short film line-up from 8 March and visited a whole lot of places around the country until 26 May.

September- October – Visited Australia with screenings in Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Canberra, Hobart, Launceston, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Sydney.

We were also privileged to present for our ‘Feature Series’ audiences’ the inspiring NZ made cycling documentary ONE DAY AHEAD on 8 ordinary Kiwis journey taking on all 21 stages of the Tour de France one day ahead of the event, raising moneys for the Mental Health Foundation of NZ. The “WORLD Premiere” took place on Friday 25th January at Cambridge, and then visited Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch over 27 Feb-1 March.

We also found time to have a one off screening in Auckland of a classic film- ‘A Sunday in Hell’ which lived up to its reputation as one of the best cycling films ever!

We kicked the year off showcasing our ‘Feature Series’ screenings of the stunning Freeride mountain biking documentary ‘THE MOMENT’; which was embraced and enjoyed by bike fans across the country over February and March.

May and June – Touring with THE BIG BIKE FILM NIGHT 2018 line-up across New Zealand.

July-August – a new adventure with the 2018 Cycle Chic Film Tour.

August- October – To Australia with screenings in Melbourne, Bendigo, Canberra, Hobart, Launceston, Brisbane, and Sydney between the two collections.

2017 was a heck of a ride and we stretched things big-time! This moveable feast- a travelling bike-themed short-film festival went full tilt through 2017.

Brett had a strong desire to make the event bigger and better and introduced several new initiatives to the event.

The initiative that Brett was most proud about over 2017 was his desire to have a partner film event to go alongside THE BIG BIKE FILM NIGHT 2017. Introducing the Cycle Chic Film Tour with a range of short cycling movies to inspire, encourage and celebrate women who love to bike was the biggest challenge he had faced from curating various collections’ over the last three years. Seeing the response from the audiences’ made it all worth while and satisfying.

2017 also saw us take the two collections ‘across the ditch’ to a select few cities in Australia. Starting slowly in Canberra, Hobart and Melbourne with the intention of returning in 2018 to these locations and others on a larger scale tour.

An opportunity to showcase feature length documentaries saw The Big Bike Film Night ‘Feature Series’ introduced, catering for those that crave even more bike action. In 2017 there were two outstanding feature length documentaries touring.

‘ALL FOR ONE’ – from humble beginnings to the international circuit, the Australian cycling team -GREENEDGE became an unlikely inspiring story, and this film followed their incredible journey.

LONDON. EDINBURGH. LONDON – This is one of Britain’s great cycling challenges, and the cyclists were not only tested physically, but faced a mental challenge that forced them to look inside and find  resolve they never knew they had.

Having top quality films shown in top quality cinema environments is paramount to the vision of Brett and by the end of 2017 there was a multitude of events all under The Big Bike Film Night’s banner.

Striving to have more fun, more screenings, bigger audiences and creating great events is what it is about, all this- dedicated to the humble bike.

A new year and a new idea. With the Giant bike back up, Brett saw an opportunity to build a small business ‘pedaling films’ and curated a new collection of short cycling films and took them around the country.

During 2016 we visited new places, made some new bike friends and for several hours pedal patrons were in their happy place.

February 2015 saw the inaugural screening of THE BIG BIKE FILM NIGHT, in the exciting Rotorua Bike Festival programme. Several months later Starlight Cinema was chosen as the venue for Taupo; it didn’t disappoint with a SELL OUT crowd on hand to support this great cause. The stylish Tivoli Cinema in Cambridge was selected for the final 2015 viewing and once again patronage and enthusiasm was high.

Organising THE BIG BIKE FILM NIGHT was a way of putting the ‘fun’ into fundraising and from the successful screenings $2300 was raised towards the Giant bike’s restoration.

Sharing the best cycling short films from around the world with our audience succeeded, and fans of the event eagerly enquired about when it was returning.

In early 2014, there was an event that shook the bike community in Brett Cotter’s home town of Taupo, New Zealand- a newly installed Giant 3 metre Bike Statue had been viciously vandalised.

From this, an idea, an ambition, and a crusade to help have Taupo’s Giant Bike repaired and back up again unfolded.

The genesis of THE BIG BIKE FILM NIGHT was born.

A collection of generous film makers, film production companies and organisations were approached and they whole heartedly supported this creative idea, along with them came a willing and caring local bike community.