Opens in Los Angeles on April 16: "Changing Lanes"

Featuring Talking Heads co-founder
David Byrne and former NYC Transportation Commissioner
Janette Sadik-Khan, this new documentary investigates why our streets are designed the way they are, and what it will take to make them safer and more livable.

When a beloved teacher is tragically killed in a hit-and-run crash in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a grassroots movement emerges to transform a notoriously dangerous four-lane boulevard into a safer, two-lane street with protected bike lanes.

While many applaud the proposed change, it also sparks a backlash – led in part by a powerful local business owner. As government support begins to waver, neighbors unite to challenge entrenched interests and fight for a safer Greenpoint.

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

Changing Lanes opens on Thursday, April 16, 2026
at the Laemmle Royal, Monica, and Town Center theaters.
Filmmaker Ben Wolf will appear with special guests for Q&A's on Thursday, April 16th (Royal) and Monday, April 20th (Monica).

Special Guests:

April 16, 7pm show @ Laemmle Royal - moderator Jacob Wessel, senior director for special projects at L.A. Metro's Office of Strategic Innovation. He was formerly the public realm director for the city of Boston, where he worked to make streets more pedestrian friendly.

April 20, 7pm show @ Laemmle Monica - moderator Alissa Walker, a Los Angeles-based writer and a former senior writer at Curbed, where she covered cities, transportation, and architecture for seven years. In addition we will have another special guest — Santa Monica Mayor Caroline Torosis.

“Made by a bicyclist, largely filmed from aboard a bicycle, featuring cyclists illustrious and ordinary, Changing Lanes is charged with the energy of urban cycling – New York cycling. Like no other film, Changing Lanes makes clear that bicyclists are the passionate heart of the livable streets movement.”

-Charles Komanoff, Transportation Economist & Environmental Activist

“More than a story about one street, Changing Lanes offers a vivid case study in how grassroots movements take shape: the resistance to change, the grip of the status quo, the messiness of political processes, the wins and setbacks, and the mix of strategy, timing, and luck that ultimately drives – or derails – change in our cities.”
-Marcia Ely, Director of Programs, Center for Brooklyn History, Brooklyn Public Library

"Great streets aren't built – they are fought for and they are won. 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.”
-Janette Sadik-Khan, NYC Transportation Commissioner (2007-2013)