Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour

South Africa is one of 35 countries and 390 communities globally participating in the World Tour, which features a collection of the most inspiring and thought-provoking action, adventure and mountain films.

Travelling from remote landscapes and cultures, to up-close-and-personal encounters with adrenaline-packed action sports, the 2014 World Tour is an exhilarating and provocative exploration of the outdoors as captured by some of the world's finest outdoor filmmakers. Over 300 films enter the annual Banff Mountain Film Festival competition and award-winning films and audience favourites are among the films chosen to travel the globe as part of the World Tour.

Local film-goers will experience highlights from a selection of adventure interests, including mountain biking, rock climbing, trail running, bouldering, snow skiing, stand-up paddling and base jumping.

Tour extended

Evan Torrance, Cape Union Mart's Marketing Director, said: "Each year the local leg of the tour becomes increasingly popular and is always sold out before the screenings start. This year we're extending the tour in a number of ways: we've added Port Elizabeth as a screening city for the first time; in Durban the festival has been extended from one day to two days; in Cape Town, Joburg and Pretoria the festival will once again run over eight days but we've secured much larger cinemas.

"Nationally we've increased the total number of available seats from about 6500 to 10,000 to meet the demand from South Africa's adventure film fans. We're amazed at how well received the local leg of the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour is. It's a wonderful confirmation of South Africans' appetite for adventure and the outdoors."

Films that he believes will be especially well received by South African audiences include:

• North of the Sun, which is a magnificent depiction of two young Norwegian adventurers discovering their own private playground tucked between the icy Atlantic Ocean and the rocky slopes of a remote, arctic island. They build themselves a cabin out of flotsam while clearing the beach of debris, then spend the long winter skiing and surfing in the haunting low light; and
  
• Keeper of The Mountain is the story of Elizabeth Hawley who bucked the conventions of her time by settling alone in Kathmandu in 1960 where she began chronicling Himalayan expeditions for The Himalayan Database. Even as she turns 90, she continues to update these records with rigorous accuracy and dedication.

Torrance added that one of the other highlights from the global festival is that a South African film was included as part of the World Tour and will also be screened in South Africa: "The Beauty of the Irrational is a great piece of cinematography by local filmmakers Dean Leslie and Greg Fell of The African Attachment. It captures the epic journey of South African Ryan Sandes' record-breaking run of the Fish River Canyon Trail in Namibia. We're really proud that South Africa was represented during the international festival in Canada and that local audiences can also appreciate a local story alongside international adventure feats this year."

The South African leg of the festival also includes the screening of the winner of Cape Union Mart's Adventure Film Challenge 2014, a local competition aimed at encouraging emerging filmmakers to capture South Africa's local outdoor adventure lifestyles.

Some of the other international short films that will be featured in the 2014 Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour line- up include:

• Ghost Town: In the mid-1800s, British Columbia's mountain towns boomed as prospectors flocked north during the great Gold Rush. Josh Daiek, Mike Henitiuk and Kieran Nikula arrive 150 years later in search of their own fortune;
  
• The Sensei: East meets West and old meets new. Twenty-something world-class boulderer Daniel Woods, and 43-year-old climbing veteran Yuji Hirayam, team up for the expedition of a lifetime. But when Daniel-san travels to Japan to prove himself worthy of Hirayama's mentorship, the question becomes, who learns from whom?
  
• The Questions We Ask: Bruce Kirkby crosses the Pacific from Vancouver to Victoria on a stand-up paddleboard, and ponders what adventure means to him;
  
• Not Bad: Seven brave riders set out from the four corners of the globe for 30 days of outrageous fun and bicycle tomfoolery in New Zealand;
  
• 35: Thirty-five climbing routes in one day to celebrate 35 years of life? Why not? Take the birthday challenge!
  
• Split of a Second: 99.9% of time is spent in preparation for living a few moments of joy. The other 0.1% is to only be here now, and step off that cliff.

Go to www.banff.co.za for more information or for a sneak peek of what to expect during the film festival.

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour screens at select Ster-Kinekor cinemas across the country:

• Cape Town: Cavendish Square 23 to 31 October
  
• Cape Town: Tygervalley Centre, 24 to 31 October
  
• Joburg: Sandton City, 23 to 31 October
  
• Pretoria: Brooklyn Mall, 24 to 31 October
  
• Durban: Gateway Centre, 30 and 31 October (two days only)
  
• Port Elizabeth: The Bridge Ster-Kinekor, 31 October (one screening only)

Ticket prices are the same as a standard Ster-Kinekor ticket and can be booked online via www.sterkinekor.com or call the Ster-Kinekor Ticketline on 082 16789.