Emilio Estevez and Che "Rhymefest" Smith in The Public
(Image courtesy of Universal Pictures Content Group)Libraries – long the world's repositories of knowledge trying to find new roles in the Information Age – these days are having a bit of a moment.
First, in 2017, came Ex Libris: The New York Public Library, another of Frederick Wiseman's award-winning documentarian looks at a major institution. It won the FIPRESCI Prize and was a nominee for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
Last fall came The Library Book, the latest from New Yorker staff writer Susan Orlean, whose The Orchid Thief became the unlikely film adaptation Adaptation. In The Library Book, Orlean looks at the 1986 arson of the Los Angeles Public Library's Central Branch that burned half a million books and damaged another million.
Along the way, Orlean examines the fast-changing but still essential role of libraries in public life in a time when smartphones provide a bottomless well of information and entertainment. Earlier this year, Orlean was featured guest in the L.A. library foundation's annual fundraiser.
Now comes a new movie, The Public, about a different role that has been thrust upon many libraries, as a flash point in the nation's homelessness problems. The film is debuting in 250 theaters across the country on Friday.
Starring, written and directed by Emilio Estevez, The Public is set at the main branch of Cincinnati's public library during a bitter cold snap.
Estevez plays Stuart Goodson, his librarian job substantially morphed into one as social worker/school marm to the many homeless people who shelter in the library every day. During a lethal polar vortex, those homeless people finally rebel en masse and refuse to leave at night, causing a standoff with police.
The Public features an impressive cast, including Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Taylor Schilling, Christian Slater, Gabrielle Union, Jeffrey Wright and Grammy winner Che "Rhymefest" Smith.
Estevez said his love affair with L.A.'s libraries started in the late 1990s, when he regularly visited the magnificently rebuilt Central Branch, researching what became Bobby, about the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Estevez wrote, directed and starred in that 2006 film too.
The new film was inspired by an op-ed column from retiring Salt Lake City librarian Chip Ward about libraries and homelessness.
"The piece was about how libraries had become de facto homeless shelters and librarians (had become) first responders and social workers," Estevez said. "That's not what they signed up for when they got their M.L.S. (master's degree in library science).
Estevez rattles off alarming homelessness statistics, like the estimated 56,000 homeless on Los Angeles streets each night, or the fact that an estimated 11 percent of California State University system students have no fixed address, couch surfing or otherwise making do for shelter as they pursue a degree.
"This was a crisis on a national level," Estevez said. "I began to imagine what it would look like if they'd staged an Occupy moment. It's freezing, people are dying in the streets. How could politicians spin the story for their own gain? How would the media create their own event?"
The film does effectively show the everyday challenges of running a library even as some of its most loyal patrons are depending on the place just to help them survive, often amid serious mental and physical health problems, addictions, and other issues.
While researching The Public, Estevez said he ran into Orlean at the Central Branch, researching her book. And like Orlean, Estevez champions libraries as essential for the maintenance of democracy.
"Ohio offers an amazing tax rebate, 30 percent above and below the line," Estevez said. "It was very attractive to get that kind of support."
The project is partly backed by Pongalo, which operates Spanish-language subscription and ad-backed streaming services. CEO Rich Hull said the company is backing a string of original feature-length projects as it expands its offerings. The Public became something bigger than originally planned.
"This movie far outgrew anything Pongalo would have on its platform," Hull said. "But we have a massive megaphone. One of the areas where we can add a lot of value is going out and promoting the movie. We can play an important role. Latinos have a 25-percent share of the moviegoing audience."
Pongalo has successfully mined its library of telenovelas and other programming, much of it licensed from big media companies in Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America. Most notably, Pongalo developed one of its Spanish-language soap operas into the Emmy-winning ABC comedy hit Jane the Virgin.
To help build advance buzz for The Public's theatrical release, Estevez barnstormed across 30 cities, holding screenings and Q&A sessions, many in libraries. It's an approach closer to a book tour than a movie rollout, but it also garnered a lot of love with librarians around the country, Estevez said.
The film is being distributed by a new unit at Universal Pictures in concert with Greenwich Entertainment, which had a recent hit with the Oscar-wnning documentary Free Solo.
