For motorbike junkies the world over, building a custom bike is akin to an artist’s creative process. So posits The Greasy Hands Preachers, the feature documentary filmed on 16mm by director-producer team Clement Beauvais and Arthur de Kersauson, and executive produced by Orlando Bloom – a clip of which is previewed today.

Embarking on a globe-trotting trip from Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats and ending up in Central Java in Indonesia, the pair captured the philosophical spirit of bike culture and the community awakening honoring the oft-overlooked art of two-wheeled mechanics, notably devalued since the rise of American industrialism in the 1960s. "It confirmed my intuition that, spiritually, [riding] has a lot to do with finding your place in the world not taking someone else’s," says de Kersauson. "It's the only thing worth chasing in this world, along with good waves, food and women." 

Their emotionally charged labour of love caught the eye of Bloom – "a true rider" – and honours the wildly diverse generation of bikers obsessively getting their hands dirty for the bikes and culture they inhabit. “The call for a tool to shape the world, whether it’s a wrench or a computer, is in our nature," says Beauvais. "Being able to fix or create something with your hands is empowering."