Calling all adventure filmmakers

The Cape Union Mart Adventure Film Challenge is giving South African adventure-loving filmmakers the chance to enter not one but two categories in this year’s competition, Aspiring and Professional.

Cape Union Mart’s Group Marketing Executive, Jennifer Coetzee, says, ‘In 2017 we received 16 entries, but in 2018 the entries more than tripled to 53. Not only are we thrilled with the increasing quantity, but the quality of the films has astounded us.

‘Due to the overwhelming number of films received last year, it makes sense to support both aspiring and professional adventure filmmakers to ensure we’re creating a platform for everyone to get involved.’

The Adventure Film Challenge aims to get up-and-coming filmmakers recognised in the industry. ‘The advice I’d give someone entering or wanting to enter is to just put it out there, you never know what people may see in the piece you’ve created. I certainly didn’t expect to win,’ says 2018 Cape Union Mart Adventure Film Challenge winner Hayden Brown.

Brown shares that at the time when the winner of the 2018 Adventure Film Challenge was announced, he was halfway through an intensive month of filming and editing daily videos at the Tour De France.

Brown says he’s happy to hear Cape Union Mart has introduced two categories as it opens the doors to more creatives and also gives hope to amateur filmmakers.

The winning films will be screened at the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour which will be shown in Ster-Kinekor cinemas countrywide later this year.

Not only will the winners’ work make it onto the big screen, they will also win a cash prize.

Entrants in the Professional category are competing for R10,000 and K-Way gear to the value of R5,000, while entrants in the Aspiring category for amateur filmmakers are vying for R5,000.

Submissions for this year’s challenge will be judged on their storyline, creativity, originality, visual composition, and technical execution, along with editing, sound, music, and overall impression.

Films must be no longer than five minutes (300 seconds), including titles and credits.

Entries close at 12pm on Sunday, 30 June 2019 and the winner will be selected by an external panel of judges involved in South Africa’s outdoor film scene.