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Documentary ‘Crip Camp’ features activist and photographer HolLynn D'Lil

Crip Camp, a documentary directed by Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht, premiered the first night of the Sundance Film Festival this January. Crip Camp, "not about overcoming, but becoming” was produced with Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions and will be on

Ninety-four of the photographs taken by HolLynn D'Lil of Graton during the 1977 504 Demonstrations featured in her book Becoming Real in 24 Days are in the film. Becoming Real in 24 Days is about the take-over of the fourth floor of the San Francisco Federal building for three and a half weeks with concurrent demonstrations in D.C and in eight other cities across the country.

The long but successful battle achieved the first Federal law to protect people with disabilities against discrimination.

At stake were issues like the proposal for segregated schools for students with disabilities, which the protestors' determination successfully stopped. The success of the 1977 504 Demonstrations greatly shaped the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which was signed into law in 1990.

HolLynn was also interviewed for the film along with other disability rights advocates. Sara Bolder, the producer wrote that HolLynn's participation in the film"made it clear that her story of becoming disabled and having the same prejudices as everyone else gives people without disabilities permission to acknowledge their own biases. That’s so important to the telling of the story of the 504. Really crucial."

Mostly a Bay Area production, others included in the film are Jim LeBrecht, Lionel Je' Woodyard, Joseph O'Conor, Ann Cupolo Freeman, Denise Sherer Jacobson, Judith Heumann, Neil Jacobson, Sheldon Koy Dr. William Bronston, Corbett O'Toole, Dennis Billups, Evan White and Emily Hofmann.

Crip Camp — Director Nicole Newnham Nicole Newnham, director of Crip Camp, an official selection of the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Irene Searles.

Crip Camp — Director Jim LeBrecht Jim LeBrecht, director of Crip Camp, an official selection of the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance Institute | photo by Irene Searles

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