Truth To Fiction: The Librarians
Thu Mar 05:
$15 General Admission
$10 Student/Child/Senior
$7 Member
Kim A. Snyder
United States
2025
1h 32m
Series - Truth To Fiction
About
(Kim A. Snyder, United States, 2025, 92 min, in English)
Librarians emerge as first responders in the fight for democracy and our First Amendment Rights. As they well know, controlling the flow of ideas means control over communities.
In Texas, the Krause List targets 850 books focused on race and LGBTQIA+ stories — triggering sweeping book bans across the U.S. at an unprecedented rate. As tensions escalate, librarians connect the dots from heated school and library board meetings nationwide to lay bare the underpinnings of a large-scale coordinated extremist movement 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.
“A gripping story of what is at stake when curiosity and thinking are endangered… It introduces viewers to the everyday and increasingly vital heroes pushing back.”
– Lisa Kennedy, Variety
Co-Presented with Seattle Film Society!
The Seattle Film Society is a filmmaker-run project dedicated to organizing, cultivating, and celebrating the Greater Seattle filmmaking community.
Co-Presented with Seattle Documentary Association!
Seattle Documentary Association cultivates and supports an equitable and professional community of nonfiction storytellers.
Join us for a post-screening panel with Seattle-area library workers!
Gavin Downing
Librarian, Kentridge High School
Gavin Downing is the librarian at Kentridge High School in Kent, Washington. In 2022, while at a different school in Kent, he fought a book challenge instigated by his principal, which resulted in him receiving threats and harassment. He is the recipient of the 2022 Candace Morgan Intellectual Freedom Award, and the 2023 Student Involvement Award. He lives in Federal Way with his wife and several ridiculous cats.
Brenna Shanks
Teen Materials Selector, King County Library System
Brenna Shanks is a selection librarian (i.e., book buyer) for the King County Library System (WA). Brenna buys books, audiobooks, DVDs, and eBooks for 48+ community libraries in the greater Seattle area. She has worked on book awards and programs for the American Library Association, including the Law for Librarians program. She has presented at Novelist’s Inc., ECCC, PNWA, and WLA about libraries, intellectual freedom, and publishing. When reading for herself she tends to read a bit of everything, but loves fantasy, science fiction, manga, and history.
Craig Seasholes,
Retired Librarian and Past WLMA President
Craig Seasholes, is a retired school librarian and a longtime library advocate now serving as section chair for the WA Library Association: Washington Friends, Foundations, Trustees and Advocates (WLFFTA) group and on the Friends of Winthrop Library Board of Directors.
Click for Accessibility Info
Ticketing, concessions, cinemas, restrooms, and our public edit lab are located on Northwest Film Forum’s ground floor, which is wheelchair accessible. All doors in Northwest Film Forum are non-motorized, and may require staff assistance to open. Our upstairs workshop room is not wheelchair accessible.
The majority of seats in our main cinema are 21″ wide from armrest to armrest; some seats are 19″ wide. We are working on creating the option of removable armrests!
We have a limited number of assistive listening devices available for programs hosted in our larger theater, Cinema 1. These devices are maintained by the Technical Director, and can be requested at the ticketing and concessions counter. Also available at the front desk is a Sensory Kit you can borrow, which includes a Communication Card, noise-reducing headphones, and fidget toys.
The Forum does NOT have assistive devices for the visually impaired, and is not (yet) a scent-free venue. Our commitment to increasing access for our audiences is ongoing, and we welcome all public input on the subject!
If you have additional specific questions about accessibility at our venue, please contact our Patron Services Manager at rajah@nwfilmforum.org. Our phone number (206-329-2629) is voicemail-only, but we check it often.
Made possible due to a grant from Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, in partnership with Sensory Access, our Sensory Access document presents a visual and descriptive walk-through of the NWFF space. View it in advance of attending an in-person event at bit.ly/nwffsocialnarrativepdf, in order to prepare yourself for the experience.
⚠️ COVID-19 Policies ⚠️
NWFF patrons are encouraged to wear masks that cover both nose and mouth while in the building. Disposable masks are available at the door for those who need them. Recent variants of COVID-19 readily infect and spread between individuals regardless of vaccination status.
Read more about NWFF’s policies regarding cleaning, masks, and capacity limitations here.