Forget hibernation this winter – get out. Pack your gear and head for the Victorian High Country this weekend, and after a day of skiing, snowboarding or pampering at spa retreat, be sure to ski-in to the Mt Buller cinema on Saturday.

For the third time, Australia’s highest movie theatre will screen a hand-picked selection of mountain, adventure-themed short films and documentaries for The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour. Exploring remote landscapes and cultures, films celebrate the spirit of outdoor action and adventure: from skiing and snowboarding to ice climbing, base-jumping and mountain biking.

Founded in 1976, Canada’s prestigious Banff Mountain Film Festival promotes an appreciation for the world’s finest alpine environments. Sixty films are selected from a pool of 300 submissions and a shortlist travel the world on tour. And we’re talking one major tour – some 275 communities across 30 countries.

So what’s to see? For starters, check out the aerial footage of one of the world’s best speed alpinists, Ueli Steck, in “The Swiss Machine.” Renowned for taking alpine speed to new heights (8,000-foot mountains, why not?), the film follows Steck in Yosemite with fellow climber Alex Honnold as they take on the world’s tallest granite walls. Another hot pick is “Cross Country Snowboarding,” about two Nordic-style snowboarders who battle the winter elements, as well as flack by mainstream skiers and snowboarders. Others include ultra-HD mountain biking flick “Life Cycles”, and “Into Darkness,” which captures cavers as they navigate tiny passages to reach an underworld of remote wilderness caves.

And for some local flavor, Aussie director and producer Anthony Bonello uses world-class cinematography and animation for his film “Azadi: Freedom.” Through the lens of skiing and a fleet of local characters, it shows how ski tourism and the freedom of adventure helped rebuild Kashmir (home to one of the world’s highest ski gondolas) following the violent insurgence of the 1990s.

If anything, it’s certain to rev you up for an energetic Sunday morning on the slopes.

The bar opens at 6.30pm (before films at 7pm) and with sponsors like National Geographic Adventure Channel, World Expeditions, Outer Edge magazine, Sea to Summit, Icebreaker, Black Diamond and Vasque, those prizes and giveaways could be looking good. Discounts are offered for groups of 10, so get persuasive – only three hours from Melbourne, why not?

Where: Mt Buller Cinema, Mt Buller, Vic
When: Sat 25 Jun | 7pm
Price: $30
Bookings: banffaustralia.com.au or the Mt Buller Post Office from 20 June
Details: mtbuller.com.au

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