Kim A. Snyder Talks Sundance Doc ‘The Librarians’ and Bringing on Sarah Jessica Parker as a Producer
Political polarization in America has gotten so bad that librarians — yes, librarians — are under siege across the country. To combat the nationwide censorship efforts made by politicians and conservative parental rights initiatives like Moms for Liberty, a group of librarians formed the FReadom Fighters in 2021. The group boasts members from across the nation and attempts to defend and advocate for students’ First Amendment right to read. In doing so, they have risked their lives while resisting book bans in Texas, Florida and beyond.
The FReadom Fighters are the subject of Kim A. Snyder’s ITVS documentary “The Librarians.” which screens Jan. 24 at the Sundance Film Festival.
More from Variety
The 88-minute film, executive produced by Sarah Jessica Parker’s shingle Pretty Matches Prods., follows the steadfast FReadom Fighters as they face escalating conflict and an increase in book censorship. Texas school librarians founded the group after lawmaker Rep. Matt Krause targeted 850 books to be removed from the state’s libraries, leading to bans on books such as “Catcher in the Rye” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
“The way I’ve constructed the start of the film, with nostalgic archival images, is to evoke a classic Americana image of how we have long thought of librarians —like firemen, they are people who serve our towns and our counties, people you would never dream of attacking and criminalizing,” says Snyder.
Since 2021, book bans have swept across the nation. Their main targets are stories addressing race and LGBTQ+ issues, which has led to bans on classic novels, including “Beloved” and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”
“One of the things I wanted to reveal is that this is bigger than some of what people think of when they hear of attacks on librarians and books,” says Snyder. “This is not just an issue in Texas or just about going after LGBTQia+ books. It’s much broader than that.”
Variety spoke to Snyder (“Newtown,” “Death By Numbers”) ahead of “The Librarians” Sundance world premiere.
Did you ever imagine that you would be making a horror doc about librarians who have been traumatized by their efforts to keep books in libraries? It’s so —
Snyder: Dystopian. When you hear all of these librarians who have really different types of personalities and are all very different people, all say that they are truly afraid that they can be arrested, that someone is going to come and kill them, you just kind of can’t get over it. It would be horrible for any number of people like say activists like people like me in the space of fighting for gun rights, but librarians? It’s shocking.
Donald Trump and his administration have threatened to defund PBS. How does that make you feel about this doc’s future on ITVS?
With the movies a lot of us are making about serious subjects, you have to go forth, assuming at this moment, we still have a voice. This doc’s message is not just about the brave librarians but also the everyday Americans who flank them. They are just regular Americans who are saying, “I’m going to stand in a place of power until I can’t.” And I feel the same way about my movies.
Members of Moms for Liberty are featured in the doc but are not interviewed. Did you ask them to participate in the doc?
We did ask for interviews and were denied.
How involved was Sarah Jessica Parker and her production company Pretty Little Matches in the making of this film?
They came in well over a year ago, so, it was not a recent add-on. When it comes to celebrities, I don’t ever want to (bring on a celebrity producer) unless there is real authenticity behind it. We knew that (Sarah) has for years been a fierce advocate of libraries and librarians, so it was a very organic. She’s very passionate about this. She’s shown up at things before this with us, and I’m so excited that she will be at Sundance with us.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
