2010 Hammersmith Cyclists Film Show line-up announced

Cycling film fans with a nostalgic leaning for the British racing scene from the 1950s to the 1970s and the post-war years of the Tour de France will be well catered for at next month’s Hammersmith Cyclists Film Show at Riverside Studios, which takes place on Sunday 17 January.

Films that will be shown during the afternoon include the 2003 production Tour of Legands by the Dutch film-maker Erik van Empel, which focuses on the 1948 edition of the Tour, contested by riders including Gino Bartali, Louison Bobet and Jean Robic, and the last to be held without TV coverage. The 40-minute film combines contemporary press clippings, scratched glass plates and damaged film footage with more recent interviews with some of the protagonists alive at the time it was made.

Other films that will be shown during the day include a 30-mnute feature from 1979 called From Britain: RTTC Junior 25, Hill Climb and 12 Hour Championships – we’re guessing that one pretty much does what it says on the tin – and a 15-minute film showing a variety of newsreel footage of bike racing in the UK during the 1960s and 1970s.

Bringing things bang up to date, two films from 2009 will also be shown. Those are Behind the Scenes at the 2009 Tour de France, lasting 40 minutes, by Ray Pascoe, best known for his two films about Tom Simpson, whom he met when racing in Belgian as a youngster, and Mikael Colville-Andersen ‘s 14-minute film, Daily Cycling in Copenhagen, by Mikael Colville-Andersen, the film director ad cycling advocate behind the website Copenhagenize.com.

The films get under way at 1.30pm and tickets, which can be booked online, cost £7.50 (or £6.50 for concessions).