“Gripping… as well-crafted as it is profoundly alarming.” New York Times
When the US Supreme Court opened the door to a new era of book bans, librarians all over America took action. The Librarians, which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, follows librarians in Texas, Florida, and other states as they fight against a terrifying surge in book bans and legislation aimed at criminalizing their profession.
In Texas, the Krause List targeted 850 books focused on race and LGBTQia+ stories, triggering sweeping book bans across the US at an unprecedented rate. As tensions escalated, librarians connected the dots from heated school and library board meetings nationwide to lay bare the underpinnings of extremism fueling the censorship efforts. Despite facing harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work - the librarians’ rallying cry for freedom to read is a chilling cautionary tale.
Directed and produced by Kim A Snyder, whose film Death By Numbers was Oscar-nominated for Best Short Documentary and garnered 2024 Montclair Film Festival Best Short Documentary and the Honorable Mention Jury Award from Doc NYC.
Runtime: 88m