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The Province, October 11, 2007, John Colebourn
When Aren Hansen had his bike stolen, first he got mad and then tried to get even.
The result is a documentary short film called White Vans, that Hansen, 29, a film editor, made about the flourishing bike-theft business in Vancouver.
The 13-minute film, showing at the Vancouver Film Festival, documents how prolific bike thieves can be.
Hansen’s $1,400 Giant bicycle was stolen from his East Vancouver home two years ago.
At a news conference yesterday at Vancouver police headquarters, his film was shown to highlight what officers every day are up against when trying to collar bike thieves,
In some cases, stolen bikes are sold locally, but many are thrown in cargo vans and taken out of province to be sold off. Some of the bikes are stripped down and the parts are sold.
When Hansen’s bike was taken, the thief left behind a blue woman’s bike that Hansen wants to return to the owner.
“I had to deal with the anger,” said Hansen. “So I did the film.”
“This film was never about the money, it was a way for me to express my frustration. I haven’t been able to afford another bike like that.”
Const. Tim Fanning said that, so far this year, 1,100 bikes have been reported stolen in Vancouver. Last year, 1,600 were stolen, up from 1,200 in 2005.
“It is a very personal theft,” he said. “It has a real profound effect on you when your bike is stolen.”
Fanning said anyone with a valuable bike is advised not to leave it outside, ever if it is locked.
If a bike is left outside, he said, a top-quality lock should be used.
If you have flip hubs, remove the front wheel so the thief can’t ride away. He also advises taking off the seat.
Fanning said some bikes get stolen from people’s yards and he warns kids to never leave their bikes unattended.
Metro, October 11, 2007
Jeff Hodson
When film editor Aren Hansen, 29, had a pair of bicycles stolen in two weeks he poured his rage into a short film about bike theft in Vancouver.
“It was a way for me to express my frustration,” Hansen said. “You don’t have an outlet. There’s no recourse with bike theft.”
White Vans, named after what he envisions a bike thief might drive, features interviews with victims of bike theft. The film made its Vancouver premiere last night as part of the Vancouver International Film Festival.
In Vancouver, 1,100 bike have been reported stolen this year, said Const. Tim Fanning, averaging to about four a day. But with only a quarter to a third of crime being reported, the number, he said, could be as high as 12 bikes a day.
“It’s a very personal theft. A very personal crime when it happens,” Fanning said.
24 Hours (Paper/Online)
Aren Hansen is one of thousands of people who have their bike stolen in Vancouver each year. So he created a movie, White Vans, that tackles the issue as a way to vent his anger at bike thieves. The flick can be seen today as part of the VIFF at the Pacific Cinematheque at 4 p.m.
WHITE VANS a Famous Films Production
Directed by AREN HANSEN Produced by REVA QUAM Director of Photography PETER SWEENEY
Featuring LYLE ST. GODDARD / JASON BRYDEN / DAVID MILCHARD
Music by CARIBOU / PINK MOUNTAINTOPS / CHAD VANGAALEN / JUNIOR BOYS / STORYBOARD / PAPER CRANES
copyright FAMOUS FILMS 2007 Canada 13 minutes HDCam
Stella Artois Insider Picks for the 27th Atlantic Film Festival
For anyone who has ever had their bike stolen, this Vancouver set drama presents an unlikely way to strike back at those dastardly bicycle thieves. White Vans is funny and incisive; this is one revenge fantasy, however, that is ultimately bittersweet.
The Vancouver Sun, October 11, 2007, Neal Hall
Two years ago, Aren Hansen went outside his east Vancouver home, intending to jump on his bicycle to go to work.
His $1,400 bike was gone, stolen. But left in its place on the front lawn was another stolen bike – a woman’s Apollo cruiser from the 1970s, with a bell that says: I Love My Bike.
Hansen was angry about his bike being ripped off. And he’s not alone.
About 1,600 bikes were reported stolen from Vancouver last year with an estimated value of more than $1 million, including some bike worth up to $5,000 apiece.
And that’s only the reported thefts, Vancouver police Const. Tim Fanning, an avid cyclist, said Wednesday.
“It could be over $2 million easily,” he said.
In 2005, there were 1,200 reported bike thefts, he said, and 1,100 have been reported so far this year.
Four bikes are reported stolen every day but another eight probably never get reported because they are not insured, Fanning estimated.
He said theft is a personal crime that profoundly affects both children and adults.
Hansen, now a Toronto filmmaker and editor, has made a short film about bike theft in Vancouver called White Vans.
It speculates that a ring of bike thieves drive around in white vans and use heavy-duty lock cutters to steal bikes, which are taken to ‘chop shops’ to be repainted, equipped with stolen parts and resold.
For his film, Hansen used a cheap bike as bait - he rented a room across the street from the locked bike in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and waited all night, with his camera rolling every time a suspicious person approached the bait.
The bike was eventually stolen by what appeared to be a man living on the street, who used wire cutters to snip the cheap cable lock.
As for the bike left on his front lawn two years ago, he continues to look for its owner.
The Ubyssey (BLOG)
Greg Ursic
If you’ve lived in Vancouver for any length of time, you’ve probably had a bike stolen or know someone who has (in my case it was a friend’s bike that I had borrowed), and will undoubtedly feel a kinship with Aren Hansen. White Vans details the traumas suffered by legions of bike theft victims, as well as the trauma they’d like to inflict on the pepertrators. In its 13 minute runtime it succeeds in being topical, timely, clever, amusing and emotional.
Human Powered (BLOG)
This 13 minute short packs a hefty punch...right in the eye of the next bike thief! Local filmmaker Aren Hansen helps us feel the pain and loss that is much more than a bike stolen: a wide range of people who have suffered the loss of their loved one share how it affected them as well as their vengeful fantasies.
Ending up as a advertisement to return an abandoned blue bike to its rightful owner (it was left behind by a thief who stole the filmmaker’s bike), we see lots of great shots of East Van as well as slam poetry and a wonderful stakeout that puts important perspective on the bigger issues.
PRESS
A FILM BY
AREN HANSEN & REVA QUAM