The 2016 Seattle International Film Festival welcomed another entry from
the USA. This is a documentary about the Sandy Hook school
children after the horrific slaughter that took place in 2012. It was
the second deadliest mass shooting at a school by a single gunman in
history. One of the executive producers is Paul Allen through his Vulcan
Productions. I am so grateful to see his company is involved in such
worthwhile projects.
Director Lloyd Kramer has crafted a
sensitive, entertaining and educational film using interviews and filmed
auditions and rehearsals as a New York director comes to Sandy Hook to
test the healing power of art. His idea is to have local children
perform an original musical version of Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream."
Most of the children know nothing about Shakespeare but gamely show up
for auditions and are surprisingly open to learning about stage craft,
the Elizabethan language, and theatre terms: "Table Read," "Off Book,"
"Tech Week," etc. The only professional actor is the fellow who plays "Bottom."
We come to know many of the children, their
teachers, their parents and their siblings. We see what each one went
through and watch them grow as they master a brand new skill and learn
how satisfying a hearty round of applause can be. They are uniformly
articulate, insightful and interesting. More than a few suffer from PTSD.
Sandy Hook is a leafy
little Connecticut town that was chosen by more than a few families as a
nice place to raise their families. Grieving parents have summoned the
strength to become involved in national issues that also address
violence. And they do NOT overlook the perpetrator, indeed they realize
that his life must have been miserable to have been driven to such an
action. 20 children and 6 adults died in that incident but the town is
united in its determination to provide support and affection for
everyone who lives there.
This is a keeper.