Saint Mary’s hosts screening of ‘FEAT’ as part of Frozen River Film Festival; documentary draws attention to A-T

WINONA, Minn. – As part of the Frozen River Film Festival, a screening of the documentary “FEAT” will take place at 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23, at Saint Mary’s University.

The documentary chronicles Tim Borland’s coast-to-coast quest to run 63 marathons in 63 days for kids battling the rare, terminal disease ataxia telangiectasia, or A-T.

This cause is particularly meaningful to the Saint Mary’s University community as Taylor Richmond, son of Saint Mary’s Campus Ministry and Student Activities staff member Nikki Richmond (and her husband Nick Richmond) was diagnosed with A-T as a young boy. The annual Taylor Richmond Benefit Dance at SMU was named in his honor. The Richmonds live in Cochrane, Wis.

The makers of this film, Deborah and Bradley Carr, are both seasoned television and documentary producers. They met in college, where they were also introduced to their first A-T family. The couple collaborated to produce the first A-T Children’s Project Telethon at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh in 2000. The eight-hour live broadcast served to educate the surrounding community about ataxia telangiectasia, while simultaneously raising funds to support research. The telethon has become an annual event at the university.

The event – free and open to the public – will be held in Figliulo Recital Hall, located in the SMU Performance Center. A panel discussion, including Taylor Richmond, will be held following the film.

For more information about this documentary, go to www.featmovie.com.