Summer in the Forest
CAST: Various DIRECTOR: Randall Wright TUESDAY FILM SERIES
Summer in the Forest is a documentary film that explores the life and work of Catholic author and philosopher Jean Vanier. It traces Vanier’s activism and faith from wartime to present day and reveals to us the universal need for love, community and companionship. Like countless others, Philippe, Michel, Andre and Patrick were labelled “idiots”, locked away and forgotten in violent asylums until the 1960’s. The young philosopher Jean Vanier took a stand and secured their release – the first time in history that anyone had beaten the system. Together they created L’Arche, a community for people with disabilities at the edge of a beautiful forest near Paris. And with that, a quiet revolution was born.
There will be a discussion after both the afternoon and evening screenings of Summer in the Forest with L'Arche Tahoma Hope.
"Summer in the Forest" is an extraordinarily tender documentary that asks what it means to be human. Here, even the most gentle scenes raise mighty questions.Ken Jaworowski, New York Times
It's quite a story, one that, like all good stories, turns out to have meaning for anyone.Daphne Howland, Village Voice
This is a calm and often affecting study of L'Arche, a community of people with learning disabilities in Trosly-Breuil, northern France.Peter Bradshaw, Guardian