Bikes for Africa - shooting underway

Last week was the Reel Earth Film Festival where Landscapes at the World's Ends picked up Best NZ Cinematography in Palmerston North. Stoaked with that, and with making the trip up there as it was such an inspirational group of volunteers, film makers and organisers to network with. Below I'm walking the environmentally friendly 'green' carpet to the Awards Gala with the beautiful and creative soul Lisa Chappell.

The Reel Earth Environmental Film Festival's green carpet.

This week I'm over in Melbourne, staying with my mates Hap and Mandy on their couch in their shoebox apartment, who are about to embark on a 5000km cycling adventure across Southern Africa to help implement a shipping container full over donated second hand bikes into a small Namibian community.

I am making a doco on some of this, both of their adventure and the great work Bicycles for Humanity are doing and their African partner BEN (Bicycle Empowerment Network) Namibia. Hap is taking a camcorder with him to Africa to film the events over there. More about his mission can be found on Hap's regularly updated blog.

This week it's all about the prep, pre-interviews, getting bikes ready and packing that impressive shipping container. We even now have a name for the doco! - Bikes for Africa. Nice double meaning.

On Friday Hap and Mandy's bikes were put together in a Melbourne backyard shed. A wee timelapse of that session is below. You can see myself interviewing Hap in the process.

Time lapse of Hap assembling his touring bike

Today was spent with Bicycles for Humanity packing the container with over 400 bikes and 500 helmets, it's amazing what can fit in one of these. This gear will make its way to Namibia using the funds (over $10,000 Australian) these two have raised with the donations of their friends and family. More on what Bicycles for Humanity here. If you would still like to donate - it's not too late - just visit this link.

I recorded some super interviews today the the B4H team and all the volunteers that turned up to help. It'll make a great start to the doco.

Here's a picture after several hours of hard work with the container ready to go. Cheers.

Container all packed up! 400 + bikes and 500 + helmets off to Africa.