MANCHESTER - Burr and Burton Academy will host a screening of an award-winning Vermont film called "The Summer of Walter Hacks" on Thursday, April 4. Media Arts students will be treated to a master class from the filmakers. That evening, the film will shown as a fund-raising event to benefit the AKP Foundation, founded by Jon Wilson.

The mission of the AKP Foundation is to help young adults in financial need with the means to use adventure sports, athletics, and adaptive sports to energize a comeback from cancer. Wilson is a cancer survivor who lost his leg to sarcoma in 2006. After chemotherapy, a second surgery, and radiation, he was given a clean bill of health.

The film, which was directed and co-written by Waterbury dairy farmer and actor George Woodard and produced and co-written by Ferrisburgh resident Gerianne Smart, has been shown throughout the state as a successful fund-raiser for nearly a dozen organizations.

Tickets are $7 and available at the Northshire Bookstore and at the door, with all proceeds going to the Foundation. All donations will be gratefully accepted. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with the screening beginning at 7 p.m. Both filmmakers will be on hand to introduce the film and answer questions afterwards. The screening will be held at Burr and Burton's Riley Center for the Arts. For more information on the screening, contact Cheryl Young at 802-867-5921.

The film is appropriate for ages 10 and up or younger with parental guidance.

The

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movie is about an 11-year-old farm boy who is growing up in a small Vermont town in 1952. He lives a seemingly idyllic life on the farm with his Dad and his brother Cliff. His life takes a sudden and tragic turn just before school lets out for the summer. The actors, with one exception, are all from Vermont. The original music score was composed by Vermont musician Pete Sutherland and was performed by members of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra.

"The Summer of Walter Hacks" won the award at the Vermont International Film Festival in 2010 and was nominated for "best screenplay" and "best stunts" by the Maverick Movie Awards.