Ben Wolf’s ‘Changing Lanes’ Documentary Sets Theatrical Release Date

Set to open in theaters in the Spring, Ben Wolf’s documentary, Changing Lanes, captures where culture meets civic life in an investigation of why our streets are designed the way they are, and what it will take to make them safer and more livable.

The film begins in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, after a beloved teacher is killed in a hit-and-run, then follows neighbors organizing a grassroots movement to remake a dangerous four-lane boulevard into a safer two-lane street with protected bike lanes, even as backlash rises from local power.

Featuring luminaries like Talking Heads frontman and avid NYC cyclist David Byrne and former NYC Department of Transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, the film connects a single street fight to bigger questions about who gets to shape a neighborhood and how people push back when government support wavers.

While Changing Lanes centers urban cyclists, it is “more than a film about bikes and public space,” says Doug Gordon, co-host of the War on Cars podcast. “It’s about who wields power, what defines a community, and how regular citizens can organize in the face of deep corruption and other seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It is very much a movie made for the political and cultural moment the country finds itself in right now.”

Changing Lanes situates a local struggle for safer infrastructure against entrenched government interests within broader historical, environmental, political, and social contexts through interviews with politicians, activists, urban planners, entrepreneurs, and cultural icons including aforementioned musician David Byrne and legendary urban planner Janette Sadik-Khan, presenting a compelling call to action for democracy at street level.

“Great streets aren’t built – they are fought for and they are won,” says Sadik-Khan. “In recounting the battle for a single bike lane in Brooklyn, Changing Lanes tells the story of every city struggling to wrest back its streets and reimagine them for people.”

Following a festival run at the Architecture & Design and Bicycle Film Festivals in 2025, the film opens on Thursday, April 16 at the Laemmle Royal, Monica, and Town Center theaters in Los Angeles, with filmmaker Ben Wolf set to appear with special guests for Q&As on April 16 at the Royal and April 20 at the Monica. Following its Los Angeles opening, the film will be screening at select theaters in New York, Cleveland, and Milwaukee.