CinemAddicts co-host Eric Holmes praises the heck out of the upcoming documentary “Happy Campers.” He recently talked to director Amy Nicholson about the project and immediately complimented the feature’s visual look and narrative. Check out Nicholson’s full interview below as she talks about her critically acclaimed “Happy Campers.”
“Happy Campers” centers on residents who live in a waterfront campground off the coast of Virginia. The neighbors reside in close quarters in their respective RVs, and this close knit community are happy to pay a modest rent on a prime location.
Trailer park living in this area unfortunately had its end date, as the property was sold to developers. Director Amy Nicholson, who was a one person crew (armed with just a Blackmagic Pocket Camera) spent over a year and a half with the community before starting her documentary in 2019.
The pandemic as well as six months working on the documentary’s sound design are a couple of reasons “Happy Campers'” was not an overnight release. With all that time to work on the documentary, Nicholson was able to reflect on the bonds she created during this experience. “We all got into lockdown and you’re sort of in your house by yourself going like, ‘Oh, okay, Boy, do I miss those people,'” said Nicholson. “(I) really had time to contrast and compare and think about how much fun it is to be so social with that many people at once. I came right from having 150 families as neighbors that were ten feet from each other. It was it was hard to give it up. But yes, it really was a community.”Â
After Eric Holmes’ high praise for “Happy Campers,”I’m looking forward to seeing the documentary. It’s apparent Nicholson has a deep affection for the members of the community, and one assumes that bond is evident in “Happy Campers.” Eric Holmes, Bruce Purkey, and I will review the documentary this week on CinemAddicts.
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“Happy Campers” hits New York for an August 7-13 run at IFC Center (Q&A on August 7 & 8). The documentary screens in Los Angeles starting August 21 (Laemmle Santa Monica) and August 22 (Lammle Noho). A U.S./Canada VOD release is set on September 10.
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