Backcountry Film Festival visits Helena Feb. 22 for fundraiser, community discussion

Wild Montana’s Wild Divide chapter hosted the Backcountry Film Festival at Lewis & Clark Tap Room, 1535 Dodge Ave, Helena, on Sunday, Feb. 22, with doors opening at 3:30 p.m. and films starting at 4:00 p.m. The venue posted the event window as 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and event pages listed adult tickets at $15 and kid tickets at $10.

The screening was presented by Winter Wildlands Alliance as part of the touring Backcountry Film Festival, and organizers used festival copy to frame the program: "Presented by Winter Wildlands Alliance, the Backcountry Film Festival celebrates human-powered recreation and wild winters." Promotional materials for the Helena stop also noted, "This year the festival commemorates its 21st season!" and encouraged attendees to "Enjoy films featuring backcountry experiences, conservation efforts, and personal stories of reflection and discovery while traversing wild landscapes."

Lewis & Clark Tap Room’s event page emphasized local amenities and atmosphere, using the venue header "HEADWATERS OF AWARD WINNING BEER & GREAT LIVE MUSIC" and promising "music, giveaways, drinks, community connection & more." Wild Montana’s event copy specified that "Some lucky attendees will win prizes donated by local businesses," indicating local commercial participation in the fundraiser component of the screening.

Wild Montana’s event page stated plainly that "Ticket proceeds from this screening directly support Wild Montana." The venue event page, however, contained an apparent copy-paste error referencing a Whitefish screening and the Flathead-Kootenai Chapter, a discrepancy that conflicts with Wild Montana’s Helena-specific beneficiary language. Multiple calendar listings, including HelenaHomeTeam, reproduced the $15 adult / $10 kids pricing and the doors-3:30 p.m./screening-4:00 p.m. schedule, but HelenaHomeTeam also displayed a duplicate entry listing the festival on Feb. 23, suggesting a local calendar inconsistency.

One other inconsistency appeared on Wild Montana’s page, which included parenthetical text reading "Tickets: $15 for adult, $10 for kids (available online and at the door, $25 at door)" that contradicts the consistent $15/$10 price cited elsewhere. Organizers’ event text did note ticket purchase was available online and at the door, but the apparent $25 at-door line was internally inconsistent in the captured copy.

Wild Montana’s Helena contact information appears on the organization’s site footer as 80 S Warren St., Helena, MT 59601 and phone 406.443.7350. The festival’s Helena screening was one stop in a statewide tour that Wild Montana described as hosting "screenings all over the state," a distribution model that channels ticket revenue and local business donations into regional conservation and winter recreation advocacy.

The Helena screening emphasized both fundraising for Wild Montana and a festival history of catalyzing local discussion about climate and stewardship; organizers’ promotional text noted the festival "has sparked conversations about the human connection to wild places, encouraged grassroots activism in the face of warming winters, and inspired stewardship of our wild public lands and waters." The event materials captured did not list film titles, sponsor names, or detailed giveaway logistics in the preserved copy.