Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour dates announced

Death-defying mountain-based adventures, spectacular sportsmanship and breathtaking scenery are combined in this series of films produced by the world's finest outdoor filmmakers.

Exhilarating and provocative, the 2013 World Tour is a must-see for outdoor lifestyle enthusiasts and those with a spirit of adventure. Film-goers can expect to experience highlights from an array of adventure sports, including mountain biking, climbing, alpine skiing and mountain expeditions, in addition to being transported on a journey to visit remote cultures and some of the world's last great wild places.

Two highlights this year include the films, Crossing the Ice and Gimp Monkeys. Crossing the Ice is a harrowing film about tackling the perilous journey across Antarctica to the South Pole and back again, completely unassisted. Gimp Monkeys reveals the astonishing accomplishments of three disabled climbing friends in their attempt to complete the first all-disabled ascent of Yosemite's iconic El Capitan.

Local leg increasingly popular

Cape Union Mart's marketing director, Evan Torrance, said: "The local leg of the tour is increasingly popular with South African adventure film fans each year, which is a great confirmation of how passionate South Africans are about the outdoors. They love the fact that the film festival gives them an opportunity to be part of an exhilarating worldwide adventure. In the last two years tickets sold out early, and depending on how this year goes, we may well need to consider extending the local leg next year."

The short films that will be presented this year were selected from hundreds of entries received by the Banff Centre in Canada from mountain-based extreme sport and adventure filmmakers across the globe. For the first time this year, the South African leg of the festival will also include the screening of the winner of Cape Union Mart's Adventure Film Challenge, a local competition aimed at encouraging budding filmmakers to capture South Africa's local outdoor adventure lifestyles.

Blown away by the quality

"We were blown away by the quality of the entries for the Adventure Film Challenge competition this year. We're hoping that by screening the winner of AFC during the local leg of the Banff World Tour, we can inspire more local filmmakers to try their hand at producing short films that convey the contrasting adventure landscape in South Africa," Torrance concluded.

Entries for the 2014 Cape Union Mart Adventure Film Challenge will open in September 2013.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival will be screened at five Ster-Kinekor cinemas across the country from 25 October to 1 November 2013. Ticket prices are the same as a standard Ster- Kinekor ticket and can be booked online via www.sterkinekor.co.za

The dates are:

• Cape Town: Cavendish Square, 25 October to 1 November. Tygervalley Centre, 25 to 31 October
  
• Joburg: Sandton City, 25 October to 1 November
  
• Pretoria: Brooklyn Mall, 25 to 31 October
  
• Durban: Gateway Centre (one screening only on 1 November)

For more information, go to www.banff.co.za