Sheffield's First Adventure Film Festival Launches

Sheffield's First Adventure Film Festival

April 21st-23rd 2006 looks set to be a weekend of high adrenalin action in Sheffield. Nothing new there, but this time the participants will be seated in comfy chairs, not climbing harnesses, as the city hosts its first Adventure Film Festival.

Over three days, 45 films will hit the screens of The Showroom Cinema, Britain's largest independent cinema outside London. They range from one-minute shorts to two hour epics, and will transport viewers from sweltering Malian rock faces to sub-zero Greenlandic peaks, from air-borne adventures to subterranean caving exploits, and from near-death experiences to some risqué climbing comedy. It sounds like it should go down well in England's most outdoor-oriented city.

There won't be any of the speakers, photo exhibitions or competitions that often accessorise film festivals this time around. Sheffield's festival will be pure film. Many of the screenings are prize-winning imports from the Banff, Kendal, and Telluride festivals, so if anyone missed the chance to nip over to Banff for a few days in October, they can now catch the highlights closer to home :-)

Here are some of the hair-raisers on offer:

• a surfing venture on a tidal wave hundreds of miles inland, in the heart of the Amazon
• a sprinkling of first ascents (for climbers) and first descents (for kayakers) ? and occasionally the other way round!
• a Pan-Andean paragliding adventure
• a near-death descent of Everest in canoes
• a 'beyond the comfort zone' ascent of Greenland'?s highest peak
• a 128-day crossing of the Australian Outback on foot
• some 'hold on tight' mountain biking action.

and, as they say in all the ads, 'a whole lot more' :-)

For further information, check out the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival website, or go to our competition page to win free tickets.