Midsummer In Newtown DocumentaryHe heard that a team of artists from New York (a director, composer, production designer, choreographer, a couple of professional actors) were traveling to Newtown to put on a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's . Kramer realized the potential in such a story, and the end result is . The film focuses lovingly on . Most of them were in the school that horrible day in 2. Many lost a brother, a sister, a friend. They have been traumatized. Kramer's approach is conventional, and that's a good thing in this instance. He gives the survivors (adults and children) space to tell their stories, so we get to know the participants, and then follows the process of the production from audition to opening night. Advertisement. The goal of the New York theatre artists was explicit: The children needed to learn the meaning of the word community again, and what better way to do that than through a rehearsal process? Many of the Sandy Hook children, along with the adults in their lives, suffer from PTSD. Their parents, grieving themselves, do their best to create continuity and safety for their children, and it is clear that the . You get to know the kids. ![]() Musical theater professionals try to help schoolchildren cope with tragedy in Lloyd Kramer's post-Sandy Hook doc 'Midsummer in Newtown.'. Midsummer in Newtown (2017) Director Lloyd Kramer; Documentary. Connecticut, fortunate enough to be cast in “A ROCKIN’ Midsummer Night’s Dream. When Newtown, Connecticut, was devastated by the loss of 20 first graders and six adults at the hands of a shooter at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the world looked. Eventbrite - Seattle International Film Festival presents SIFF2016 Screening: Midsummer in Newtown - May 21 - Saturday, May 21, 2016 at Majestic Bay Theatres, Seattle. 939 likes · 36 talking about this. There is no mention of gun control in the heartwarming, heartbreaking documentary “Midsummer in Newtown.” Lloyd Kramer’s accessible yet emotionally complex. Midsummer in Newtown is the inspiring new film from acclaimed documentarian Lloyd Kramer and The Documentary Group that paints the most intimate of portraits of a New. Midsummer in Newtown, directed by Lloyd Kramer, examines the power of art to heal. In the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy, a theater production comes to Newtown. Humble, heartfelt documentary about healing after tragedy. Read Common Sense Media's Midsummer in Newtown review, age rating, and parents guide. 2016, Lloyd Kramer, USA, 81 min. Connecticut, to stage the pop musical "A Rockin’ Midsummer Night’s Dream.". ![]() You get to know the parents. Ironically, the rehearsal process, even though it represents huge risks for all the kids, is the ultimate . People grieve differently, on different timelines. Not everyone is impacted identically. Some react with anger, others retreat. No one who is interviewed says the words . There is no right way to grieve, and this is an important point, especially in a culture so drenched in self- help propaganda that it believes tragedies can be incorporated in neat prescribed ways (or, worse, the belief that . It was an explicit acknowledgement that it takes a long time to even approach normalcy again, and that the larger community needs to rally around its members when they are hurting. Now, we are expected to be back at work, fully functioning, after a week off. The New York artists who came to Newtown to put on the show are not therapists, grief counselors, or child psychologists. But they believe in art, and they know that the kids can rise to the difficult challenges of the project. They know that the kids will be better for having been a part of it. Art is sneakily restorative that way. One of my great acting teachers, Doug Moston, said to his students once, . You take your pain and you make it sublime. It's an overwhelming experience. What else is there left to say at this point? Is there such a thing as an off- limits topic? There are no answers provided, because nobody can really agree on anything, and that's as it should be in a free society, where these things are battled out in the public square. There will always be those comedians who go . Rob Reiner, Gilbert Gottfried, Harry Shearer, Sarah Silverman, Mel Brooks, David Cross, and a host of others, all weigh in on the jokes that work (and why) and the jokes that don't work (and why). Joan Rivers did it once on a talk show, and Brooks expressed amazement that she had . There is some agreement amongst the various comedians that time makes a difference when it comes to addressing taboo topics. But Holocaust survivors Renee Firestone and Robert Clary have a different take. Clary entertained his fellow prisoners in the camps, and much later appeared on . But Clary and Firestone talk about how laughter was one of the ways they survived the torment. Firestone, a wonderful bubbly presence, recounts a moment when Josef Mengele said to her during a . How could anything be funny about Mengele? But Firestone looks back on the moment, perceives the sheer absurdity of it (and him), and it makes her laugh. Maybe it's the ultimate . Advertisement. Comedians often find themselves in the crossfires of cultural debate, especially if they tackle material now called . These are interesting debates, particularly when it comes to satire, or the immersive performance- art of Sacha Baron Cohen. The worry is: What if the audience isn't in on the joke? What if they laugh, but it's obvious they are laughing at the wrong thing? There were those who felt validated by Archie Bunker, not recognizing the cultural critique being made through that character.) A representative from the Anti- Defamation League, in his interviews, worries a lot about jokes: what if they don't reach the intended target? Can humor be controlled, or will something essential be lost in the process? Sarah Silverman, in hot water all of the time for the stuff she says, declares that once a joke goes out into the world, the comedian has lost control of it. Many people don't like that. There are some funny editing choices in . The problem persists. The best part about the documentary is getting to listen to these funny people talk about all of these issues. Plus, there's Gilbert Gottfried imagining what the pitch for . That moment alone is worth the price of admission. John Dower's . It's part performance- art piece, part role- playing, part reality- TV, and part a profile of Marty Rathbun, famous in the world of Scientology- watchers as the onetime, hugely feared second- in- command in the organization before he left very publicly. He wants to know what it feels like to have been a member. He yearns for it, and so he sets about trying to re- create different famous events (many of which were described in Lawrence Wright's book . Dower shows the audition process, with all of these different guys coming in . Theroux and Marty Rathbun give . The actors make adjustments. Perhaps you have to be really immersed in this stuff to really get all of the humor, and how perfect (for example) the actor is, who is eventually cast as Miscavige. Trying to understand what it is that appeals in such an organization is actually a very important consideration, and a welcome counter- narrative to the . People don't knowingly join cults. They join an organization that presents itself as benign, awesome, helpful. Bait- and- switch techniques are tremendously effective. Advertisement. Over the past two decades, the mystique of the cult has been pierced in numerous ways, and some blows may very well have been fatal: the famous South Park episode, Paul Haggis' very public open letter, the shenanigans of Tom . In decades past, you couldn't Google an organization and figure out if they were on the level. The relationship between Theroux and Rathbun is often contentious. Rathbun himself is an extremely controversial figure in the small world of Scientology- watchers, and the film gets into why that is the case. In one fascinating scene, Rathbun walks off the set when Theroux proposes putting a huge portrait of L. Ron Hubbard on the wall to make the scene they are about to shoot seem more real. This is a line Rathbun refuses to cross, even in fun. Theroux is harassed and followed throughout the filming, but the . It's important to remember that there are still people trapped in the cult, people who can't communicate with their family members, or aren't allowed freedom of movement. But a movie like this is a reminder of just how far we have come. A tyrannical cult can incorporate many things into its understanding of itself. Even having enemies, threatening law suits and constant criticism can be twisted into evidence that they are doing things right, that the world is evil and they alone provide light. But one thing that cults cannot abide, cannot incorporate, cannot allow, is humor. And in that respect, for Scientology, the jig is up. Next Article: Ebertfest 2. Nancy Allen on . Most people of both sexes are probably fairly nice, given the nat.. A tribute to the late Powers Boothe. The latest on Blu- ray and DVD, including !
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