Crip Camp

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

In the early 1970s, teenagers with disabilities faced a future shaped by isolation, discrimination and institutionalization. Camp Jened, a ramshackle camp “for the handicapped” in the Catskills, exploded those confines. Jened was their freewheeling Utopia, a place with summertime sports, smoking and makeout sessions awaiting everyone, and campers felt fulfilled as human beings. Their bonds endured as they migrated West to Berkeley, California — a promised land for a growing and diverse disability community — where friends from Camp Jened realized that disruption and unity might secure life-changing accessibility for millions.


Co-directed by Emmy®-winning filmmaker Nicole Newnham and film mixer and former camper Jim LeBrecht, this joyous and exuberant documentary arrives the same year as the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, at a time when the country’s largest minority group still battles daily for the freedom to exist. CRIP CAMP is executive produced by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama; Tonia Davis and Priya Swaminathan; Oscar® nominee Howard Gertler (How to Survive a Plague) and Raymond Lifchez, Jonathan Logan and Patty Quillin; LeBrecht, Newnham and Sara Bolder produce.

Screening as part of the Winter 2020 season of Pure Nonfiction.Tickets for Pure Nonfiction screenings are $18 for the general public and $15 for IFC Center Members. A Season Pass, good for all Winter 2020 films (Feb 11 – Mar 31) is available for $110 for general admission, and $90 for IFC Center Members, here.

  • Country USA
  • Running Time 107 minutes
  • Distributor Powershausen
  • Director Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

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