''Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution'' is a 2020 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed, written and co-produced by

Nicole Newnham Nicole Newnham is an American documentary film producer, writer, and director known for the Oscar-nominated movie '' Crip Camp'' (2020) which she co-directed and produced with James LeBrecht, and the multiple- Emmy-nominated film ''The Rape of Eu ...

and James LeBrecht. Barack and Michelle Obama served as executive producers under their

Higher Ground Productions Higher Ground Productions, also known simply as Higher Ground, is an American production company founded in 2018 by former United States President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama. History In May 2018, the Obamas launched Higher ...

banner. ''Crip Camp'' had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2020, where it won the Audience Award. It was released on March 25, 2020, by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

and received acclaim from critics. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Premise

''Crip Camp'' starts in 1971 at

Camp Jened Camp Jened was a summer camp for disabled people in the state of New York (state), New York that became a springboard for the disability rights movement and Independent living, independent living movement in the United States. Many campers and c ...

, a summer camp in New York described as a "loose, free-spirited camp designed for teens with disabilities". Starring Larry Allison,

Judith Heumann Judith Ellen "Judy" Heumann (born December 18, 1947) is an American disability rights activist. She is recognized internationally as a leader in the disability community. Heumann is a lifelong civil rights advocate for people with disabilities. ...

, James LeBrecht, Denise Sherer Jacobson, and Stephen Hofmann, the film focuses on those campers who turned themselves into activists for the disability rights movement and follows their fight for accessibility legislation.

Production

The idea to make the film about Camp Jened started "with an off-hand comment at lunch." James LeBrecht had worked with Nicole Newnham for 15 years as a co-director. LeBrecht was born with

spina bifida Spina bifida (Latin for 'split spine'; SB) is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord during early development in pregnancy. There are three main types: spina bifida occulta, men ...

and uses a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

to get around. However, he had never seen a documentary related to his "life's work as a disability rights advocate." At the end of the lunch meeting, LeBrecht told Newnham, "You know, I've always wanted to see this film made about my summer camp," and she replied, "Oh, that's nice, why?" Newnham told ''

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'', "then he completely blew my mind" explaining why he wanted to make this film. Newnham said:

Release

''Crip Camp'' had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2020. The film was released on March 25, 2020, by

. The film was set to be released in a limited release that same day, but the theatrical release was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Reception

Critical response

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, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "As entertaining as it is inspiring, ''Crip Camp'' uses one group's remarkable story to highlight hope for the future and the power of community."

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, which uses a

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, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Peter Travers of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' wrote, "this indispensable documentary defines what it means to call a movie 'inspiring'."

Justin Chang Justin Choigee Chang (born January 3, 1983) is an American film critic and columnist for the ''Los Angeles Times''. He previously worked for ''Variety''. Early life Justin Chang graduated from the University of Southern California in 2004. Chan ...

writing for ''

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'' said that "

he film He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

delivers an appreciably blunt message". Benjamin Lee of ''

'' wrote, "this impactful film shines a light on a forgotten fight for equality". Daniel Fienberg of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly larg ...

'' wrote, "My only hope is that the confrontational title and the Obama branding don't scare some viewers away from a story that is truly non-partisan, humane and significant". Peter Debruge writing for ''Variety'' said, "

proves to be the most educational for those born into a post-

ADA Ada may refer to: Places Africa * Ada Foah, a town in Ghana * Ada (Ghana parliament constituency) * Ada, Osun, a town in Nigeria Asia * Ada, Urmia, a village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Ada, Karaman, a village in Karaman Province, ...

world, a world of self-opening doors and accessible bathroom stalls and ramps that take wheelchairs into consideration". Richard Lawson of ''Vanity Fair'' wrote, "The spirit of revolution—righteously angry yet full of bonhomie, demanding but generous in its reach—is alive and well in the film. As, one hopes, it is everywhere else". Carlos Ríos Espinosa of

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

wrote, "The film made me realize the importance of building spaces for people with disabilities to organize". Katie Rife of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' wrote, "

will serve as an enlightening look at how much has changed in the past 50 years". Jake Coyle writing for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' wrote, "

has a specific starting point but it unfolds as a broader chronicle of a decades-long fight for civil rights—one that has received less attention than other 20th century struggles for equity".

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Official trailer
* * , full official feature posted by

* {{Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary Feature 2020 films 2020 documentary films Netflix original documentary films Higher Ground Productions films American documentary films Documentary films about people with disability Films about disability in the United States Disability rights Sundance Film Festival award winners Films scored by Bear McCreary Films set in the 1970s Peabody Award-winning broadcasts 2020s English-language films 2020s American films Films about disability