Vertical Life Film Tour 2021

The VERTICAL LIFE Film Tour is back for its second year! Join us for Australia & New Zealand’s very own climbing film tour.

The VERTICAL LIFE Film Tour was created and conceived by the team behind VERTICAL LIFE Magazine in 2020 when many events were being impacted by COVID-19. This year the tour will run for a second time in November / December 2021 with an all new set of films focused on climbing, mountaineering and our life in the mountains.

Win tickets on theCrag

Contribute the best pictures (as judged by theCrag staff) for your favorite climbing area and tag it with #vltour21 and your preferred location (in the picture description) and win one of two tickets for each location listed below. The contest ends on separate dates for each location, please check the list below. All pictures submitted before the respective date enter the contest. Winners will be informed via theCrag messaging system and must reply with full name and email address within 12 hours.

Don't forget to put your preferred location in the picture description (eg. #vltour21 Luna Leederville (Perth))!

Film descriptions:

FREE AS CAN BE: When Jordan Cannon, a young climber infatuated with climbing history, meets climbing legend Mark Hudon, a Yosemite big wall free-climbing pioneer, they form an unlikely partnership around a common goal. While Cannon wants to complete an all-free ascent Freerider on El Capitan in a day, Hudon hopes to free the route in as many days as it takes, becoming the oldest guy to free climb El Capitan.

GORROPU: Gorropu is a film portrait of Aleksandra Taistra, a passionate rock climber with a unique focus and determination, who realized her multi-season project Hotel Supramonte in Italy. Through the awe inspiring landscapes of Gorropu and other stunning Sarda landscapes, the film illustrates how Aleksandra has made climbing one of her raison d’être and how with perseverance and self belief a seemingly unattainable goal can become a stepping stone towards understanding oneself.

COLD FEET (VERTICAL LIFE EDIT): Cold Feet is a film by Ash Mulama that follows 21 year-old Kenyan climber, Peter Naituli, in his quest to become the first climber to ascend Point John (4883m) on Mt. Kenya with no rope and no shoes. Powerful winds, frostbite and falling stones make up a fraction of what lies in wait above the clouds. However, for Peter, the struggle at the core of this story is between his desire to build a career in the mountains and the pressure to live a ‘normal’ life.

J.E.D.I. (VERTICAL LIFE SNEAK PEAK): J.E.D.I. (justice, equality, diversity, inclusion) is a new buzz word amongst climbing communities. I've been invited to no fewer than a dozen conversations, zoom calls, and events focused on the topic. As a storyteller, I long for living examples and real people who show us a way forward. This film is that story.

In Texas, public climbing areas are limited, and the majority of climbs have been developed by white men. Thanks to the work of the Access Fund, new areas are being opened for development. The question is, who will set these new routes? Who will mentor these new developers? What will be passed on or left behind?

Screening Locations

Australia

• Luna Leederville (Perth), 18-Nov-2021

• Astor Theatre (Melbourne), 02-Dec-2021

• New Farm Cinemas (Brisbane), 18-Nov-2021

• Home of the Arts (Gold Coast), 06-Dec-2021

• Dendy Cinemas (Canberra), 06-Dec-2021

• Hoyts Charlestown (Newcastle), 04-Dec-2021

• Dendy Cinemas (Newtown), 06-Dec-2021

• Mitcham Cinemas (Adelaide), 06-Dec-2021

• Village Cinemas (Launceston), 06-Dec-2021

• Village Cinemas (Hobart), 06-Dec-2021

New Zealand

• The Penthouse Cinema (Wellington), 06-Dec-2021

• Rialto Cinemas (Dunedin), 06-Dec-2021

• Hollywood theater (Christchurch), 09-Dec-2021

• The World Bar (Queenstown), 23-Dec-2021