Nicole Newnham & James LeBrecht: CURATED VIEWING

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act coming into law in Britain.

We asked Nicole Newnham and James LeBrecht, the writers, co-producers and directors of the stunning American documentary film Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution to curate a selection of films for us, to mark the launch of United Kingdom Disability History Month. Here are the wonderful films they chose. All available to rent or buy.

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contemporary import and meaning (I watched it again recently and it is very evergreen). It holds an enormous complexity of emotions and so rings with an astounding authenticity. And It rightfully lifts up the journey of an unforgettable civil rights hero, as his community loved him and knew him.

NICOLE NEWNHAM:

The Times of Harvey Milk

The Times of Harvey Milk This Oscar-winning documentary film from 1984, directed by Rob Epstein, tells the story of Harvey Milk, San Francisco’s first openly gay supervisor – from his early days arriving in San Franisco, and his success as a neighborhood activist and organizer, to his assassination and it’s aftermath. Seeing this film in College, in 1987, inspired me to want to become a documentary filmmaker, and also made me fall in love with the idea of moving to the Bay Area, which I did immediately upon graduation. In addition to being Harvey Milk’s story, it is a community story and a movement story. When Jim Lebrecht told me his desire to have a film made about his summer camp, and his notion that Camp Jened sparked a number of activists to come to Berkeley, and join the independent living movement – laying the groundwork for the epic 28-day takeover of a federal building that we profile in Crip Camp, I felt there was the possibility of making a film that captured much of what inspired me about the Times of Harvey Milk. It’s a story told with intimacy and love, and community fabric, where the interviewees become characters we follow through the history. It’s a story out of history that has contemporary import and meaning (I watched it again recently and it is very evergreen). It holds an enormous complexity of emotions and so rings with an astounding authenticity. And It rightfully lifts up the journey of an unforgettable civil rights hero, as his community loved him and knew him.

To Be and To Have (French: Être et avoir; also the UK title) A 2002 documentary by Nicolas Philibert about a small rural French school. The quiet, sensitive, verite filming focusses on the patience and respect its main subject, teacher Georges Lopez, has for his pupils. As we witness the children’s daily struggles, their breakthroughs of understanding, and their emotional connections with each other through their interactions with Lopez, the viewer is often moved and challenged in such a way that they learn not just about the art of teaching, or the viewpoint of children, but about themselves. Time slows down and the viewer enters almost a meditative state as the scenes unfold. The one-room school exists as a whole complex ecosystem and culture, with its own language, that the viewer must attune themselves to and so familiar things are seen as new and long-held assumptions are upended . With Crip Camp, out of the amazing archival footage shot by the People’s Video Theater in 1971, we hoped to achieve something similar; that the viewer would adjust and orient themselves to the unfamiliar but irresistible culture of Camp Jened, finding affinity with the campers. And that through that experience, their perceptions of disability as well as of themselves, would be altered.

JIM LEBRECHT:

My Flesh and Blood

My Flesh and Blood (2003) Directed by Jonathan Karsh and produced by Jennifer Chaiken, has always had an indelible place in my heart. The story of the Tom family, and their mother, Susan Tom who adopted eleven children, most of them with disabilities, touched me because it felt so real. Having been born with a disability, I witnessed the struggles and lives of these kids and saw my own pain and challenges reflected back on me. There is this one moment when the school bus arrives at the Tom house in the afternoon. When Faith Tom, who has to live with severe burns on her body from a crib fire, comes off the bus, she makes a beeline for the front door. On her way, you can see her frustration and hurt as she throws her knapsack onto the ground and storms into the house. That moment, summed up so much for me and was so telling. Susan Tom is an amazing mother that takes care of her kids with an incredible balance of sympathy and determination that she will provide her children a meaningful, full and loving life.

The Crash Reel (2013) Directed by Lucy Walker and produced by Lucy and Julian Cautherley was the first time I experienced a film that wasn’t blatantly about disability but for me is a touchstone when it comes to seeing the lived experience of someone with a traumatic brain injury. It’s the story of Kevin Pearce who was a leading snowboarding champion. Kevin has a life altering accident during training leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympics. What impressed me so much was Kevin’s struggle to regain the life that he once had. He pushes hard against family and friends to get back on his snowboard and train again. I can relate to his “I know better” attitude and his deep desire to not let his disability curb his life. In The Crash Reel, we see the danger and human cost that extreme sports presents to these athletes as we visit with others with TBIs. But the crowning achievement for me in this film is when we hear from Kevin’s brother, David, who has Downs Syndrome. It is Kevin’s brother who gets through to Kevin to convince him to stop when he says “I just don’t want you to die.” I have never seen a more poised, self aware and eloquent portrayal of someone with Downs Syndrome. It completely altered my perspective about people with Downs.

All of this goes into saying that I have always taken notes to myself when I’ve seen exceptional portrayals of people with disabilities in film and that education was front in center as Nicole Newnham and I worked on our film. Honorable mention also goes to Beeswax, a narrative from 2009, directed by Andrew Bujaksli and was considered part of the “mumblecore” genre of film.

For me, this was the first time I saw a character in a scripted film that was a wheelchair user in which their disability wasn’t the primary focus of who she was in the film. The film stars real life sisters, Tilly and Maggie Hatcher. Tilly plays Jeannie who uses a wheelchair. Besides seeing Jeannie as a fully realized woman in every sense of the word, there was a moment in the film that was sublime to me. Sisters Jeannie and Lauren are out on a rural piece of property. They encounter a dip in the land that Jeannie won’t be able to get over in her wheelchair. In one fluid moment, Lauren comes over to Jeannie and stoops down so that she can climb into Lauren’s back. Without a beat going by, Lauren grabs Jeannie’s wheelchair with one hand and scoops it up and they transverse that gap. So natural – so authentic. I had the good fortune to see the film at SXSW in 2009 and got to meet the filmmakers and cast. I was just gobsmacked and probably came off like wild man in my praise and appreciating over what I had just seen.