Disability-rights movement takes spotlight at Sundance

During thunderous reception for celebratory disability-rights documentary “Crip Camp” at Sundance Film Festival, loudest response came when disability advocate Judith Heumann, one of film’s chief personalities, wheeled on st.

“It was as loud as a jet airplane taking off,” Jim LeBrecht, who co-directed film with Nicole Newnham, said morning after film's premiere.

Even on a night when Taylor Swift’s “Miss Americana” also debuted, “Crip Camp” caused a stir

movie begins as a stalgic remembrance of Camp Jened, a summer camp for teens with disabilities in upstate New York that, before shuttering in 1977, was run by hippies with much of spirit of nearby Woodstock.

For camp attendees who came with polio, cerebral palsy and or disabilities, Jened was a utopia of acceptance and community. And it helped spark a movement. “Crip Camp” recounts how many of those who went to Jened — including Heumann, a polio survivor, and LeBrecht, born with spina bifida — went on to play prominent roles in disability-rights movement, culminating in 1990's Americans with Disabilities Act.

“Crip Camp” unfolds as a broader chronicle of a decadeslong fight for civil rights that has received less attention than or 20th century struggles for equity. makers of “Crip Camp," second film

“I hope this film will ignite or stories,” said Heumann, whose lifetime of advocacy includes successfully suing to become first wheelchair-using teacher in New York, leading

But by any metric,

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“We’ve learned so much about people around us from film and television, and if what you’re getting is just purely stories about people having trdies — in case of ‘Million Dollar Baby’: ‘Please kill me. Please, please.’ — or kind of super, overcoming story that we sometimes call ‘super-crip’ story, neir of se people are relatable and neir are reflective of community in general,” said LeBrecht, a Berkeley, California-based sound designer.

Heumann, LeBrecht and Newnham hope “Crip Camp” encours conversations about how movies and media have fostered false impressions of people with disabilities.

“re needs to be a fundamental altering in what goes on in media,” said Heumann, who

“Crip Camp” has already effected some change. LeBrecht, having attended previous Sundance festivals, urged festival to improve accessibility. He previously was unable to go into festival’s filmmakers lounge because it didn’t have an elevator. Sundance recently anunced that it would, with Ruderman Family Foundation, provide more resources for attendees with disabilities and program more movies featuring people with disabilities.

Newnham says a planned campaign around film’s release later this year on Netflix is intended to furr prompt discussion. change needed goes much deeper than accessibility, she said. It's about reprogramming how n-disabled think of people with disabilities.

“We’re excited that film seems to be being seen as a celebration of disability culture and pride, and we feel that can go a long way, too,” said Emmy-winning documentary producer and director.

A veteran of ups and downs of activism, Heumann kws change comes slowly. And she remains frustrated at movement’s lack of progress.

“When I’m truthful, I feel very angry about what’s gone on,” Heumann said.

“We’re frequently having to temper our thoughts and our comments because people don’t necessarily want to hear m," she added. "People have to be in a certain head to be willing to have difficult discussions.”

But “Crip Camp,” she granted, could be a new beginning for how disability is understood on screen, and off.

“Whoever we are,” Heumann said, “we have ability to make change.”