Nieuw & Verbeterd

Nieuw & Verbeterd has been working on international proclaimed films about cycling culture for a decade. When the first film ‘Why we cycling’ came out in 2017 few people would have thought how it would reverberate in communities al over the world. The film is now translated in 20 languages and shown in over 200 countries. But it left people remarking: ‘This is what we want. But how do we get it?’

The film ’Together we cycle (2019)’ tries to answer this ostensibly simple question by unraveling what has happened. In the 1970’s most people in The Netherlands and elsewhere believed that the future belonged to the automobile. It was very unlikely that the bicycle would survive. Many factors led to the uprise of cycling in The Netherlands. From influential protest groups like ’Stop the kindermoord’ through the actions of brave politicians and policy makers cumulating in the national policypaper ‘Masterplan fiets’.

The development of cycling culture never followed a straight path. If the past was rather unintentional, ‘what will the future of cycling look like?’ This question is the core question in the film ‘When we cycle (2024)’. The role of the bicycle is strongly linked to the dominant ideas about what is good for society. In the film the most important ideas and its consequences are portrayed. If we get the picture straight of what of what is our interest for the coming years we can start building. It is our imagination and the actions following suit that will shape the way we cycle.

Rotterdam Fietst (2024)’ explores what cycling brings to young people. Although cycling has many benefits for many goals and objectives, perhaps the most important is the freedom it brings children. In ‘Rotterdam Fietst’, young people play the leading role. What does cycling bring them and what can the city do to reinforce this?