While Missoula’s annual International Wildlife Film Festival had to move to an online format this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the event had its biggest reach yet, selling passes in nearly every state and 25 different countries. Now, the Roxy Theater-based nonprofit is looking at options for tacking on the virtual offering as a permanent component for years to come.

“Using a virtual festival as sort of a more sustainable model of connecting with more people and connecting with people from far away in a more responsible manner is appealing,” said IWFF director Carrie Richer. “We’re not going to make any serious decisions right now about next year obviously because who knows where we’ll be, but I think we probably will consider doing a virtual package again.”

Laura Scheer