TMFF and Caius Tenche

Magic at the Vic: The Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival Hits Victoria

By: Aaron Pufal | Host, ADV Cannonball Podcast

Last week, I attended the sold-out Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival (TMFF) screening at the historic Vic Theatre in Victoria, BC. I sat down with the festival's founder Caius Tenche and with Don Hatton, a local four-time Dakar Rally competitor who brought an actual rally bike to the lobby.

Caius Tenche

The Man Behind TMFF

I caught up with Caius Tenche at the Fairmont Empress Hotel before the show. He came to motorcycling in his 40s after discovering a series of short films called Stories of Bike on YouTube. Three years after the idea first hit him, he decided Toronto needed its own motorcycle film festival and just built one himself.

"I just said, screw it, I'm just gonna do it myself."

His first bike was a Honda CBR 500. He now rides a Harley Fat Bob. The irony of running a film festival is that it consumes his entire riding season, from submissions opening in January through the September events.

The Toronto flagship is a three-day affair with over 20 films and filmmaker Q&As. Victoria is a curated single evening with two screenings, now in its second year. The magic, he told me, is that nearly everyone in the room is a rider. "We're all laughing at the same time, gasping at the same time. We all just get it."

Films ranged from travel and adventure to deeply personal stories. The Drixton, about a man rebuilding the motorcycle that nearly killed his racer father, was a highlight. A judging panel scores films on production value, cinematography, storyline, and more, with winners announced in Toronto. Nearly all the award winners screened in Victoria.

The festival is also expanding to Picton, Ontario, in Prince Edward County, where it will serve as a launch pad for Motocraft, a motorcycle cultural festival blending bikes, art, and music at Base 31, a transformed WWII air base. I have my own history with Picton from my days DJing at the Hayloft and camping at the Sandbanks, so I love that motorcycle culture is finding a home there.

Don Hatton and a Dakar Bike With Battle Scars

In the lobby of the Vic Theatre sat a beaten Husqvarna rally bike, still wearing the dust and damage from the 2013 Dakar Rally in South America. Owner Don Hatton told me the story: he was run over by a massive racing lorry in the dunes. You can still see the tire tracks across the back of the bike. After being hit, he rode another 14 hours before the clutch finally died at four in the morning. He walked away from it in the desert and has barely looked at it since.

"This bike, the way you're looking at it today, is exactly how I walked away from it in the desert."

Don was there to support Llewellyn Pavey's film on the history of the Dakar. Llewellyn and his father Simon Pavey, Don's teammate that year, helped build the bike. Llewellyn also served as their mechanic during the rally.

Don has four Dakar finishes and five years of World Rally racing across Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, South America, Mexico, and Italy. He recently took up downhill mountain biking and won his first race. He tried to enter the Dakar again last year but was told, reading between the lines, that he was too old. He is not ready to accept that.

"I don't want to admit that I'm getting too old, so I'll just keep training and trying."

Don Hatton

Final Thoughts

The sold-out Vic Theatre proved Victoria has a real appetite for motorcycle storytelling. I tried to slip a hundred bucks to get an extra vote for Robert Bollinger's ADV Cannonball Rally film. I was firmly told that is not how it works.

Keep an eye on the Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival for future screenings.

See you on the road, Cannonballers.

Aaron Pufal