In 1971, when sound designer Jim LeBrecht was 15, he had a summer of love at a camp for disabled kids. It was a place that fostered a spirit of history-changing activism. He shared his memories with his friend, filmmaker Nicole Newnham, and they agreed that this could make a good movie. They didn’t anticipate that Barack and Michelle Obama would think so too. The final funding for their movie came from Higher Ground, the production company run by the former first family.
Co-directors Newnham and LeBrecht tell us about their new documentary “Crip Camp,” which won this year’s Audience Award at Sundance and will be streaming on Netflix in a few days. This uplifting story is a respite in these troubled times.