Summer in the Forest

This is the calming and affecting study of L’Arche, a community of people with learning disabilities in France, who despite common beliefs have a huge amount of knowledge to impart on the world.

The community was founded by the Canadian-born Catholic author and philosopher Jean Vanier, a saintly, mild-mannered 88-year-old. As a young officer in the British Royal Navy, Vanier was stricken by the horror of the second world war and the Nazi death camps. He felt a vocational calling to do good that found its focus in the early 1960s, when a priest showed him the grim conditions in which mentally ill people were housed.

The result is a truly insightful and touching film that provides an escape into l’Arche’s world of new friendships, love and discovery. It also carries several potent messages on the human condition and what it means to be a human being alive today.

Title: Summer in the Forest

Director: Randall Wright

Release: 2017

Length: 1h48mins

Where to watch: iTunes

Requires purchase