Crip Camp (2020)

This is a really interesting documentary, and also an intensely interesting way to tell a story. The film opens with children with sever mobility as well as intellectual disabilities being offered an overnight camp in upstate New York in the 1960's. These kids were almost 100% confined to wheelchairs for a variety of reasons (spina bifida, cerebral palsy, polio to name a few), almost none of them allowed to go to school in mainstream classrooms, and voerall severely marginalized. This camp, Jened, provided them with a sense of normalcy a look at how formative experiences can really shape the future. Some of the alumni of camp Jened go forward to be leaders in the disability rights movement of the ‘70s, which brought about real change for people with mobility impairments. The ending is a demonstration of just how much wheelcahir ramps and widened doorways can open up a world to those who would be otherwise unable to participate. The film is really a commentary on how to change the world. It’s not just common human decency that should lead to equality for disabled people, but that empowerment for everyone is the path to true progress for anyone. So inspiring, I highly recommend it, and it is on the list of nominees for Best Documentary for the Academy Awards.