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The documentary “Happy Campers” is now out on Video on Demand, and this is a feature that all of us at CinemAddicts recommend. Directed by Amy Nicholson, the narrative centers on the residents of a waterfront campground off the coast of Virginia. This area, known as Inlet View, is a utopia that will inevitably be taken over by million dollar homes and urban sprawl. Nicholson, however, took a refreshingly different approach to her documentary, and she talked about that process during the interview.
Running at 78 minutes, “Happy Campers” is not a comprehensive documentary of the Inlet View denizens. Filmmaker Amy Nicholson places us right into their lives as they reflect on their home and loved ones. Nicholson and her husband spent three summers in this trailer park community, and although it is not an exhaustive account of the area, it gives us an immersive and reflective look at these “happy campers.”
“The biggest challenge was there was a lot of people who didn’t quite understand the (idea of) we’re going to drop you in, and you’re going to figure out where you are which we left a lot of clues” said Nicholson. “There have been a lot of criticism of ‘well I don’t know where I am’ or ‘I don’t know who these people are and how much money they make.’ I think because there are a lot of documentaries that spell things out for you – and for good reason. But we didn’t want to make that film.”
Along with editor John Young, Nicholson admitted that she had a hard time sticking to that aesthetic because it “goes against the grain.” “I felt in this case, what you walk away with was what they had,” said Nicholson. “And then you would feel the loss even more. So you had to spend some time with them and hang out with them and see what was beautiful about the place. So when you found out it what was leaving, you would really feel the same. I was going for the emotion of what loses places like this in society costs in general.”
