Director Kim A. Snyder's new documentary The Librarians looks at today's America and the political polarization that finds librarians under siege during a wave of book banning. With limitations already set in Texas and Florida, these unlikely defenders join force to resist censorship efforts.
Amy Bench (pictured) served as the primary cinematographer on the project, which began shooting in March of 2022. She says the “Krause list” had recently been introduced in Texas, banning 850 books in schools based on their discussion of race and/or gender.
"It was around that time that I was introduced to director Kim Snyder, who was looking for a Texas-based DP for the project," Bench recalls. "I've been making work in Texas as a DP and director for over 20 years, and have become a known cinematographer for verite, social justice storytelling – and was connected to Kim and her team (producers Cynthia Kane, Janique Robillard) via Erica Deiparine Sugars at the Austin Film Society. I had seen Kim’s film Us Kids and was drawn to the intimacy of the footage with Sam and the other young Parkland activists. I felt that her approach to story was something that resonated with my own passion for intimate storytelling. So Kim and I met, and I loved her energy. I was excited to be invited to begin production a few weeks later."
The Librarians was shot primarily on a Sony FS7ii and a Sony a7iii when needed as a second camera.
"I like the FS7ii for its variable ND, which is super useful when going between indoor and outdoor settings, an incredibly necessary feature to have when filming a long verite day," she explains. "I think this was the first camera to have this ability, and was why I transitioned to it when it was released."
In addition to capturing the librarians’ stories, there was the challenge of showing empathy and respecting their need for privacy.
"One of the biggest challenges and opportunities for The Librarians were how quickly things were progressing and that many librarians wanted to keep their identities hidden," Bench shares. "Some interviews were filmed in silhouette to anonymize librarians who had been targeted. These black & white interviews tie into lovely graphic animation done by Tal Kantor in the finished film. School board meetings and court hearing dates were unpredictable, which meant that having one cinematographer for each scene was not always possible. Producer Janique Robillard had a knack for tracking what was going on, and I helped identify additional cinematographers to cover when I was not available. She and Kim were concurrently working on another film in Florida, and while there, expanded The Librarians to cover stories in Florida and a few other states."
Paulius Kontijevas and Derek Wiesehahn were the DPs for those scenes. Bench points to a school-board meeting that took place in Granbury as one of the film's biggest opportunities. It was there that the crew shot Weston Brown and his mom Monica Brown, who spoke passionately on both sides of the issue.
"It was a poignant reminder of the way our politicization has gone so deep as to fracture families," Bench explains. "We didn’t know what to expect at that meeting, but Kim and Janique foresaw that it would be a key scene in the film. We planned ahead and had two cameras covering, so that we could simultaneously film Weston and his mom as he addressed the school board. I’m really proud of how that scene worked out, because we were there for some very raw moments."