The mission of the Bigfork Retro Film Festival is to bring great films to the big screen in the comfort and convenience of the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts located in downtown Bigfork, Montana. In today's modern world with a myriad of portable devices to watch movies, we try to recreate the experience of watching movies as they were meant to be seen.

Most people haven't seen many of the movies we show in a movie theater; they've only seen them on their television, phone or tablet. Here is a rare chance to see some of your favorite classic movies as they were originally meant to be seen. During the festival, which is held over 3 consecutive days, moviegoers can enjoy a wide range of classic movies. They have the option of purchasing either an 'All Access Pass' for $25 or $30, a VIP Pass for $40 or $50 or tickets to individual showings for $5 or $10 a seat. Discounts are provided for seniors, children 12 and under, and large groups.

Our vision is to bring classic films to the Flathead Valley so they can be enjoyed by as many people as possible. By purchasing tickets, becoming a sponsor or by making a donation, you ensure we keep bringing time-honored movies to Bigfork for years to come. If you're like us, you miss watching movies in a beautiful theater. Here's your chance to relive the past.

In addition to just showing great movies we bring in special guest speakers, most of whom have worked in Hollywood. They tell fascinating and inspiring personal stories and provide a 'behind the scenes' look at the process of movie making. Following the showing the audience is encouraged to meet our guests, ask questions and learn more about how some their favorite films were made.

While many of us weren't old enough to see Casablanca, Citizen Kane or Gone with the Wind when they were first released, we can still see those films when they are shown on TV on channels such as TCM, when we stream them, or if we buy or rent a DVD. However you watch classic movies these days you are usually watching an enhanced or restored version of the film. By definition DVDs are a digital format, and because they're digital there are many ways they can be enhanced over the original analog version.

As grand as those old movie houses were, the visual and audio quality was limited by the fact that they were projecting light through celluloid that had an audio track added to it. This analog technology for its time was fairly reliable, but the audio and visual quality wasn't great. After many showings the picture was often degraded and the sound was sometimes muffled, but it was all they had and what their audiences expected. In today's digital world people expect more. They expect the highest quality picture and sound possible.

To address this expectation we show our movies using the latest digital technology, Blu Ray or HD DVD, we can use, which provides the best quality sound and picture available. That means we can actually provide a better movie watching experience than you could get even when the film was first released in theaters. We want our audiences to not only experience movies as they were meant to be seen, but also to hear them as they were meant to be heard.

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