rainbowgathering1

a Rainbow Gathering documentary, NJ screening & BK picnic

Rainbow Gathering

“Every summer since 1972, Rainbow Gatherings have occurred in a different U.S. National Forest, drawing tens of thousands of counter-culture types to the wilderness to set up a temporary city. Filmed at the 38th Annual Rainbow Gathering Of Tribes (Big Sandy, Utah), ‘We Love You’ allows the audience a glimpse into this rarely seen sub-culture, the violent oppression of Federal Agents who target them and their ultimate victory as they pray for peace the day after a siege by Federal Agents.”

That’s the official description of “We Love You“, a short and to the point (and award winning) (and, full disclosure: made by someone I know) documentary that gives a positive (like the attitude of those in attendance) spin on the annual gathering of hippies in the woods. Like Burning Man, rainbow gatherings aren’t technically music festivals, but they share many characteristics including live music. Entertainment options at gatherings range from random people with guitars to drum circles to full on G-Funk Collective performance theater. Unlike most music festivals though, rainbow gatherings do not come with toilets.

LAist: What did you hope to do by making the gathering accessible to people who’ve never attended?

Director Jonathan Kalafer: It’s weird because people always want to compare it to Burning Man or a music festival, but it’s really unlike those things. They’ve created this place, there’s a quote in the movie about it, where magic can happen. You’re far away from everything, off in the woods and people are amazingly kind to each other.

LAist: What do you hope viewers will walk away with after seeing your film?

JK: I had some people tell me , “Thank you for making the film,” because they showed it to their grandma and she understood what they’re doing when they go and that they’re not caught up in some crazy cult or something.

If you’d like to check this move out, it happens to be screening as part of the NJ Film Festival at Rutgers in New Brunswick today (10/4) and again on October 9th.

If you happen to be part of the Rainbow family, well then you probably already know that NY Rainbow’s 24th Annual Prospect Park Picnic is taking place on October 11th. This year’s actual Gathering took place in New Mexico.

The “We Love You” trailer, and other Rainbow Gathering videos, below…

We Love You Trailer