The documentary film MOTHERLOAD is coming to Prince George at the UNBC Canfor Theatre on Tuesday, March 3; at 7 p.m. Admission is free.
Following the showing of the film, there will be a panel discussion featuring Mayor Lyn Hall and local cycling advocates.
MOTHERLOAD is a crowdsourced documentary in which the cargo bicycle becomes a vehicle for exploring motherhood in this digital age of climate change. The film follows director and new mother Liz Canning on her quest to understand the increasing tension between modern life and our hunter-gatherer DNA, and how cargo bikes offer a solution.
As Liz meets the people behind this push to replace cars with purpose-built bikes, she learns about the history and potential future of the bicycle as the “ultimate social revolutionizer.” Conflict arises when characters encounter cultural resistance, in particular ‘bike-lash’ focused on women and mothers.
MOTHERLOAD draws connections here to the struggle of cyclist Suffragettes and to women’s seemingly endless fight for bodily autonomy. Ultimately, Liz’s experiences as a cyclist, as a mother, and in discovering the cargo bike world, teach her that sustainability is not necessarily about compromise and sacrifice, and that there are few things more empowering in an age of consumption than the ability to create everything from what seems to be nothing.
The MOTHERLOAD project was not only crowdsourced and crowdfunded (via a successful 2014 Kickstarter campaign); the film is also being crowd-distributed. The film is currently in its film festival run that began with the world premiere of MOTHERLOAD at DocLands Film Festival in Mill Valley, CA on May 4, 2019. Also, on June 28, the MOTHERLOAD Community Host Screenings were launched and a growing network of contributors and fans are now purchasing community screening packages and planning community-building MOTHERLOAD events around the globe. This will be the first time MOTHERLOAD is screened on Lheidli T’enneh Territory in Prince George.
The Prince George Public Interest Research Group (PGPIRG) is hosting the MOTHERLOAD community screening on Tuesday, March 3 at the UNBC Canfor Theatre in Prince George as part of UNBC’s annual Green Day event. For more information on the screening, please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/211522439893159/. For more information on the film, please contact the MOTHERLOAD team at info@motherloadmovie.com.