The company recently announced the launch of the Cape Union Mart Adventure Film Challenge, a home-grown initiative that looks set to cast a spotlight on the athletes, personalities and landscapes that form part of the South African outdoor community.
The winning entrant will take home a cash prize of R10 000 as well as R2000 worth of K-Way gear and the grand prize of having his entry screened as part of the 2013 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour.
Since first being brought to South Africa by Cape Union Mart in 2006, the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour has steadily grown in popularity, and has been screened to sell-out crowds in Ster Kinekor cinemas over the past few years. With a record 31 screenings set to take place across the country in 2013, local filmmakers will be afforded an unprecedented platform for exposure.
All entries will be judged by an expert panel, which will assess films based on their overall quality, narrative structure and capacity to tell uniquely South African stories.
According to Nick Bennett, Cape Union Mart's marketing manager, local entrants needn't be restricted to documenting extreme sports and death-defying adventures.
"While the focus of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour tends to be on the more extreme elements of the outdoor lifestyle, at the end of the day the films are about people and places," explained Bennett. "What we're looking for are films that capture the essence of our local outdoor and adventure lifestyle, and which highlight quintessentially South African stories that are likely to resonate strongly with festival-goers."
Conceived with a view to showcasing some of the amazing initiatives undertaken by local athletes, conservationists and environmentalists, the Adventure Film Challenge forms an integral part of Cape Union Mart's ongoing bid to support and celebrate South Africans' love for the outdoors.
"The Cape Union Mart Adventure Film Challenge affords us not only an opportunity to further encourage local filmmakers to engage with the outdoors, but also to highlight some truly awe-inspiring projects that have, until now, drawn very little attention," explained Bennett. "Ultimately, this initiative is our way of giving back to the community and represents an ideal platform through which our local heroes can get the exposure they so deserve."
For more information about the Cape Union Mart Adventure Film Challenge, go to www.banff.co.za. Entries close on 30 June 2013.
