If the Streets Were on Fire review – hope on show as BikeStormz riders fight knife crime

The impassioned story of a London group providing young people with alternatives to gang culture is emotionally and visually compelling

Made over several years and much of it filmed, by necessity, with handheld cameras, this impassioned documentary is about BikeStormz, the collective bicycle rides organised at first as protest against knife violence. The prime mover is activist Mac Ferrari-Guy who understood from his own experience how devastating gang violence was to his community in London.

At the same time, BikeStormz’s aim was also to provide kids, gang members and potential gang members with a constructive, communal activity that everyone could take part in, especially since the bike rides were at first through the City of London, the one part of the metropolis no gangs had dibs on. Before long, the riders started popping wheelies and showing off acrobatic skills – which looked awesome but unfortunately had local residents and the police up in arms over the safety of other road users and pedestrians.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/khZ0wxt