Audiences will get a chance to see MTV Documentary Films‘ Oscar nominated short documentary “The ABCs of Book Banning” for free on YouTube beginning on Feb. 23 until the end of the month.
The 27-minute film, about the rising tide of book banning efforts around the United States, marks docu titan Sheila Nevins‘ directorial debut.
Last month Nevins announced that she is leaving her post as executive producer at MTV Documentary Films at the end of March. Nevins, 84, has presided over the non-fiction arm of the cabler since 2019, when she was recruited by Viacom after a storied 38-year run as chief of HBO Documentary Films. This year, the nonfiction unit received two Academy Award noms — one for “The ABCs of Book Banning” and the other for documentary feature “The Eternal Memory.”
In recent years, more than 2,500 books have been removed from school districts around the U.S., labeled as banned, restricted, or challenged, and made unavailable to millions of students. The themes targeted are predominantly about LGBTQ+ issues, Black history, and women’s empowerment. By weaving together a montage of young readers and authors, “The ABCs of Book Banning” reveals the voices of the impacted parties.
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Nevins, who directed “The ABCs of Book Banning” alongside Trish Adlesic and Nazenet Habtezghi, was inspired to direct her first documentary after watching Grace Linn, a 100-year-old woman, on MSNBC protesting book banning in Florida.
“I thought, this is the microcosm of the downfall of American democracy, which is taking away from children the right to read about different races, different sexual preferences, the history of war, and the history of racism,” Nevins told Variety. “This 100 year-old woman was trying to change the world and there I was complaining about the fact that life is so tough. I thought why don’t I do something? It’s about to be an election year and I have to make some contribution and not let the world fall apart.”
“The ABCs of Book Banning” is available for free streaming on YouTube in the United States.
