Support "I Saw the Children Gather" Harand Camp Documentary

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Project Short Summary:

An hour-long documentary film about a unique, theater arts camp filmed on the occasion of their 50th summer of transforming the lives of children, building confidence and self-esteem through education in musical theater and the great American songbook.

Current Run-Time:

64 min

This has been a labor of love for the past 20 years. We recently received a grant for the music clearance and are seeking funds to build an e-commerce website to enable streaming this film. A substantial portion of the proceeds will go to Harand Camp and the Harand Camp Scholarship Fund. For 70 years, the Harand family has changed the lives of the children in their care and it is magic.

I attended Harand Camp back in the mid-1960's and the experience of that place has stayed with me my entire life. It has been so hard to articulate in words because more than anything Harand Camp is a feeling. I attended a 50th year reunion where I saw hundreds of people just like me, of all ages, 20's through 60's, who still loved camp and what it meant in their lives and thought "what an interesting subject for a documentary".

Also, it was the excuse I needed to be able to go back to camp.

Like so many great institutions there comes a time to preserve what was great about it for posterity. Sadly, all the founding family members of the camp are now deceased. At the time of filming Sulie was still a force of nature. An extraordinary teacher, performer and a compelling figure that children can and should learn from.

Harand was significant in my development, and I know it has been for thousands of others.

Harand Camp can reach children that others fail to reach through musical theater. They take children with no theatrical training whatsoever and put them on a stage; have them singing, dancing and learning dozens of songs in less than 3 weeks. It's a miracle to see. It's also a miracle to see the pride in a child's face after this achievement.

I believe that this place, this little village, like "Brigadoon", appears every summer for a few weeks and disappears again is perhaps salvation in this weary world. Children leave this place with a stronger sense of themselves, with the knowledge that they can do things they couldn't do before, with a strong sense of belonging to a safe place that they know is always waiting for their return.

I believe that this film will have an appeal for any audience: anyone who likes kids, has kids, or is a kid, anyone who loves the American songbook, anyone who has found a place like this, and anyone who is searching for a place like this.