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Documentary: UNAFF presents The Librarians
Join us for a screening of The Librarians, which premiered at The Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Kim A Snyder, who is also a producer, and produced by Janique L Robillard and Maria Cuomo-Cole, this 83-minute documentary examines new strictures on school librarians. Book banning was nothing new to the world, but in October 2021, Texas State Representative Matt Krause issued a list of 850 books for schools to review for obscene and race-related content, urging officials to develop standards to ensure “pornography” and anything that may make students feel “discomfort, guilt or anguish” be removed. As the culture wars rage, parental rights groups dig in nationwide and pre-existing book review protocols are overturned by school boards across the country. A chilling effect sets in as book-banning crusaders become more coordinated and vulnerable librarians are targeted ferociously. View the trailer here.
Kim A Snyder’s most recent film, Death by Numbers, was Oscar-nominated for Best Short Documentary. Prior films include Us Kids, Newtown, Lessons from a School Shooting, Welcome to Shelbyville, I Remember Me and Trevor. Documentary filmmaker and creative producer Janique L Robillard’s recent producing credits include Death by Numbers and 1000 Time. Maria Cuomo Cole most recently produced the Academy Award-nominated documentary short film Death by Numbers, as well as The Librarians and Us Kids, all in collaboration with director/producer Kim A. Snyder. The film team also partnered on Lessons from a School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane and Newtown. She also produced The Hunting Ground.
United Nations Association Film Festival presents documentaries on topical subjects. Jasmina Bojic, Stanford lecturer and International Documentary Film Festival UNAFF founder and director, facilitates discussions with filmmakers and producers. For more information, please visit www.unaff.org.
Registration is not required, but registering means you will receive an email reminder the day before.
This documentary is the first in a series of three for Silicon Valley Reads. Register for the following programs through the links below:
- Thursday, January 22: The Librarians
- Thursday, February 26: How to Build a Library
- Wednesday, March 4: Labors of Love: The Life and Legacy of Henrietta Szold