I am so glad this documentary got made. With a light touch, and steady hand, - this you-are-at-camp-with-them film, the makers poignantly capture what it is like for a small, inner-city boy scout troop to embark on that age-old scouting tradition - heading off to and experiencing summer camp away from home. Home, of course, for this troop is Harlem - and summer camp is the wooded, lake-front setting of verdant update New York. The film impacts viewers on levels ranging from overhearing boys campfire and tent conversations – to the first tries at the swimming test.
Difficult enough just being an early-teen, the film brings us into the a small part of the lives of these young scouts – their joys, friendships, set-backs, and achievements . What works is – we immediately care for the subjects and enjoy observing the lessons learned and taken back to Harlem. What I liked most about this documentary is how it so aptly told of the mini-arc of learning small things in scouting and at camp, that can be used back in Harlem, and down the road in post-scouting life.
Within this small segment of these boys' lives (and their troop leaders') the film allows us to share with and revel in the universal scouting message any viewer can appreciate. This is an inspirational and joyous story - not just for boy scouts, or former scouts, or scout leaders – but for many who may only be vaguely familiar with scouting - revealed from the cramped, fractured and gritty city life for a boy scout- along with the joys of summer camp.