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Edward Guthmann April 22, 2021Updated: April 22, 2021, 6:33 pm Co-directors Jim LeBrecht (right) and Nicole Newnham Photo: Courtesy of James LeBrecht and Nicole Newnham, Tommy Lau Photography When Jim LeBrecht attends the 93rd annual Academy Awards on Sunday, April 25, he plans to wear a bespoke tuxedo designed by a high-end European fashion house. Movie stars get that treatment all the time, but LeBrecht is an Oakland independent filmmaker whose Oscar-nominated documentary feature, “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution,” was made on a budget that’s minuscule when stacked against a Hollywood release. He also has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair. “I’ve never had anyone create anything specifically for me,” LeBrecht, 64, says in the backyard of his Oakland hills home. “I’ve got a rather unique body. … My hips are out of whack and my legs swerve a little. One is 23 inches long; the other’s 25 inches. It’s body jazz, basically. Atypic ....
This Sunday caps an abnormally long award season for Hollywood. The 93 rd Academy Awards ceremony, which was originally slated for Feb. 28, 2021, was rescheduled to April 25 due to the pandemic. This year is different for other reasons, too. It is no doubt a novel year for diverse nominees. With nine actors of color earning nominations, two women receiving nominations for best director and an all-Black production team nominated for best picture, the #OscarsSoWhite and #OscarsSoMale movements of past years appear to have made a meaningful impact. That said, notable exemptions exist, including Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods,” which seemed like a shoo-in for best picture and best actor (Delroy Lindo) nominations. The film received just one nomination for best original score. ....
Crip Camp, by Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht. Photo: Steve Honigsbaum When James “Jim” LeBrecht was 15 years old, he picked up a video camera and pointed it at Camp Jened, a utopian summer camp in upstate New York for teenagers with disabilities. That summer day in 1971 was a seminal moment in the future filmmaker’s life as LeBrecht introduced his fellow campers to the camera. The film footage LeBrecht captured would later be included in Crip Camp – a documentary he and fellow Oakland filmmaker Nicole Newnham directed and produced, along with Sara Bolder (LeBrecht’s wife), and former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. It is now one of the five documentaries nominated for an Academy Award and can be seen on Netflix. ....