Holiday movie filmed in St. Joseph released on Friday

Photo: Courtesy YouTube

ST. JOSEPH - Originally called "Fly Swatter Cafe" during production, the movie filmed in St. Joseph in January 2020 was released on YouTube on Friday. A Fargo Christmas Story, starring the late Ed Asner, Cynthia Aileen Strahan, and Richard Riele, is a film based on several short stories from Fargo, North Dakota. Just a few months before most of the world sheltered in place due to the pandemic, Geschenk Coffee House was the location chosen as the cafe featured several times in the one hour and 37-minute presentation.

While the majority of the production was completed in North Dakota, the writer and director, Monticello native Robin Christian Peters, told WCIA in 2020, "We were looking around for places to shoot, looked at 30 cafes, and found one in St. Joe that fit the, you know, the feeling. The charm wasn’t too modern, wasn’t too old."

Released on December 1, the movie can be viewed for free on YouTube or below.

The film also features Sadie Katz, Robert Donavan, and former Associate Chief Administrative Law Judge of the United States Social Security Administration, Paul Lillios.

Known for his iconic roles in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", "Lou Grant", and the movie "Elf", Grant passed away on August 29, 2021, in Los Angeles.

Peters, who is Executive Producer and Director for Dreamscape Cinema, has produced ten films to date, and currently has two other projects in post-production.

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