On October 26 the National Gallery hosted a very special event—the Ottawa premiere of director Randall Wright’s moving and insightful documentary Summer in the Forest, a
UK/France/Palestine co-production that profiles renowned Canadian-born Catholic
humanist Jean Vanier (http://www.jean-vanier.org/en) and the work of his “l’Arche”
communities for people with disabilities, a movement of acceptance and loving
joyful hope that has spread around the world. (More information on the film and
availability at: http://www.summerintheforest.com/.)
Introductory remarks by Senator Jim Munson, a
longtime advocate for people with disabilities, were followed by a video
message from Vanier himself, who turned 90 last month. For decades he has lived simply in the
original l’Arche community at Trosly-Breuil adjoining a forested area in
northwestern France. As he expressed his message: “We live in a world where
people want to hide behind walls when we need to build bridges of shared
vulnerability.” Summer in the Forest isn’t a nature or adventure story as the title
might suggest, but in a sense it speaks to an adventure of the heart, open to
the beauty of nature and trusting in the human spirit.
Highlights of the film were screened interspersed at intervals
with an extended conversation on stage between Randall Wright and noted
journalist and author Ian Brown who has a disabled son about which he wrote a
2011 bestselling book The Boy in the
Moon: A Father’s Search for His Extraordinary Son. Brown revealed that a geneticist once told him
his son was a “genetic mistake of evolution”.
But he wondered if those that society and science have considered as lesser
human beings are not in fact “crucial to the ethical evolution” of our
humanity. They are persons with no power
or concern for it, no pretentiousness or cunning competitiveness. What makes
them appear childlike also gives them a freeing simplicity that seeks not
advantage over others but friendship and love through genuine human
relationships. They impart an important lesson. In making time for others we lose the fear of
the other that can poison society. In taking time “we become who we are called
to be.”
Summer
in the Forest profiles Vanier’s life and legacy. He had an elite background
and Catholic education. (His father Major-General Georges Vanier was Canada’s
19th Governor General.) He entered a naval college at 13 and had a
post-war naval command. In Paris he earned a doctorate in philosophy. But the spiritual call he experienced also led
him to an awareness of the plight of those with developmental disabilities and
the founding of the first “l’Arche” residence in 1964. From humble beginnings that has expanded into
a global network of some 150 communities in 37 countries. A striking sequence of Summer in the Forest takes place in Bethlehem in the Palestinian
West Bank. Into a region notorious for
violent divisions l’Arche brings a symbol of shared empathy and common
fragility.
In this Trumpian moment of toxic
power politics and polarization it can be hard to find signs of hope. But through
the example of l’Arche Vanier insists: “The weak and the foolish have been
chosen to confound the wise and the powerful.”
It is still possible to “dream of a world where everyone belongs.”
There are presently 31 l’Arche
communities in Canada, three of which are in the national capital region. Summer
in the Forest was preceded by Rostyk Makushak’s short film “Paranormal”
about one of them named “La Source”. There was also a reception featuring wine
tastings from a nearby Ottawa Valley vineyard (https://kinvineyards.com/) that emphasizes sustainability.
Vanier has dedicated his life to laboring in the
vineyard for a greater humanity. He has
an infectious laugh and lightness of being.
He radiates warmth. He calls us to our better nature. It was, in all
respects, an extraordinary, inspiring and illuminating evening.
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| Ian Brown in conversation with Randall Wright, National Gallery, Ottawa, 26 October 2018 |
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