Tracker Pixel for Entry

Crip Camp (2020)

Cinema | April 17th, 2020

Future Activists Meet at Newnham and LeBrecht’s “Crip Camp”

Sundance 2020 opening night selection and audience award winner “Crip Camp” -- now streaming on Netflix -- recounts the incredible grassroots movement that ultimately led to the passage and implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law on July 26, 1990. But before that ceremonial milestone, which appears late in Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht’s terrific documentary, audiences are invited to go on a long, strange trip that starts at the location of the title. In 1951, north of New York City, in the Catskills at the foot of Hunter Mountain, Camp Jened began offering summer sessions for campers with disabilities of all kinds.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, the camp developed a permissive and experimental environment largely driven by the era’s countercultural attitudes and fostered by program director Larry Allison. The movie’s first section, which shrewdly introduces viewers to the Jened vibe as if we were arriving on the bus like uncomfortable first-time campers and counselors, is as eye-opening as it is invigorating. Counselor Joe O’Conor says, “I was not prepared for the visual of so many disabled people at one time, and I froze. I became paralyzed with fear. Then somebody behind me pushed me because I was in the way and that forward momentum carried me through the summer.”

Co-director LeBrecht, who began attending Camp Jened as a fourteen-year-old, would bring the fire and energy inspired by the philosophies and experiences of fellow attendees into disability rights activism before establishing a career as a motion picture and theatrical sound designer. LeBrecht is one of the movie’s key personalities, but it is a testament to his filmmaking skills that he and Newnham share the movie’s point of view among a core group of people. The most dynamic of these players is undoubtedly the cosmically-named Judy Heumann, an indefatigable civil rights activist and Jened alumna who did as much as any other organizer to bring about significant and lasting change for members of the disability community.

So much of the dynamism and excitement of “Crip Camp” is communicated through the broad scope of the archival footage that allows Newnham and LeBrecht to immerse the viewer in the past. Daily activities at Jened were memorialized on film and half-inch videotape, often captured by the campers themselves and also recorded in conjunction with the members of the People’s Video Theater. That content is especially vital, as it does more to dismantle stereotypes and break down myths than the well-meaning news reports also excerpted in the film. Newnham and LeBrecht soon turn their attention to the 504 Sit-in that would include, at the San Francisco Office of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, the longest occupation of a federal building in United States history, but the soul of the movie lives at the camp.

Some viewers might argue that “Crip Camp” could have been two films: one about Jened itself and one about the activism that happened after the campers left. Summer camp is already a genre unto itself, with hallmarks like “The Parent Trap,” “Meatballs,” “Little Darlings,” “Wet Hot American Summer,” and the classic 1998 “This American Life” episode “Notes on Camp,” to name a few. “Crip Camp” must now be added, with an exclamation point, to that roster. Jened’s real-life teen angst and its participants’ hopes and dreams -- from endless makeout sessions to the hysterical aftermath of an outbreak of crabs -- are as horny, heartfelt, and human as it gets.

Recently in:

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comDairy Queen restaurants across the country will raise funds for Children’s Miracle Network hospitals during Miracle Treat Day on Thursday, July 31. At least one dollar from every Blizzard…

By Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comFM Pride Week returns to the Fargo-Moorhead metro August 3-10. A snapshot of events are listed below. Discover event descriptions and locations as well as volunteer opportunities online at…

August 28, 6-8 p.m.Plains Art Museum, 704 1st Ave. N., Fargo See this major exhibition firsthand and hear about Rimer Cardillo’s work from the artist himself at 7 p.m. Cardillo is an internationally renowned multidisciplinary…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com I’m going to go ahead and say it. I have trust issues with a lot of things and artificial intelligence (AI) is one of them. Yes, it’s a tool that can sit shotgun and make your everyday tasks…

By Ed Raymondfargogadfly@gmail.comTrump: the new man for all seasonsFive hundred years ago, Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More of England refused to write a letter to Pope Clement VII of the Roman Catholic Church asking that he annul…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com Holiday wine shopping shouldn’t have to be complicated. But unfortunately it can cause unneeded anxiety due to an overabundance of choices. Don’t fret my friends, we once again have you covered…

By Rick Gionrickgion@gmail.com There seems to be a renaissance in Italian restaurants in the Fargo-Moorhead metro area. It’s a welcome change from just sporting an Olive Garden as a lone option. No offense to Marilyn Hagerty’s…

By John Showalterjohn.d.showalter@gmail.com Bluegrass is a genre of music that is often associated with the American South. Many people would express incredulity at being told there is a thriving bluegrass and folk music community…

By Greg Carlsongregcarlson1@gmail.com There are so many memorable moments in the short life of musician Jeff Buckley that filmmaker Amy J. Berg could easily have gotten lost in an endless highlight reel. The veteran documentarian,…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.com 2025 marks three years of the Annual Vergas Area Backroads Art Crawl. The art crawl is sponsored by the Vergas Arts Club. The Arts Club also happens to be part of the Vegas Community Club and both…

Alicia Underlee Nelsonalicia@hpr1.comPenn & Teller are returning to their roots. The legendary magic and comedy duo will appear on the Crown Stage at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in Shakopee, Minnesota, where they first…

By Annie Prafckeannieprafcke@gmail.com AUSTIN, Texas – As a Chinese-American, connecting to my culture through food is essential, and no dish brings me back to my mother’s kitchen quite like hotdish. Yes, you heard me right –…

By Sabrina Hornungsabrina@hpr1.comNew Jamestown Brewery Serves up Local FlavorThere’s something delicious brewing out here on the prairie and it just so happens to be the newest brewery west of the Red River and east of the…

By Dr. Marc Sapir, MD, MPHjessica@pellienpublicrelations.com Across America, families are quietly struggling with a rising challenge: how to care for aging parents, siblings, grandparents, neighbors and friends. Most seniors want…

By Alicia Underlee NelsonProtests against President Trump’s policies and the cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are planned across North Dakota and western Minnesota Friday, April 4 and…

By Vern Thompsonvern.thompson@rocketmail.com Working in the Bakken oil fields of the Williston Basin is so different from my home in Fargo. I'm not judging, because the people working and living in western North Dakota are very…