Stars and politics converge at Sundance festival

by Andrew MARSZAL

Sarah Jessica Parker slammed right-wing book bans and Jacinda Ardern called for more "empathy" from leaders as the worlds of entertainment and politics collided at the Sundance festival Friday.

The "Sex and the City" actress and the former New Zealand prime minister were among the famous names gathering in snowy Utah for the influential indie movie fest, with their documentaries "The Librarians" and "Prime Minister" respectively.

Parker helped produce the former film, which follows a resolute group of US librarians fighting back against conservative bids to remove books covering LGBTQ issues, racism and sexuality from school and public library shelves.

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Many of the movie's subjects experienced death threats and lost their jobs, but received a standing ovation following Friday's world premiere, where they were hailed by Parker as heroes.

"There will continue to be opposition to freedom of thought, to access to information," said Parker.

"And these librarians, and many more we haven't met yet, they will be on the frontlines time and time again."

The conservative war on the teaching of books aimed at sensitizing students to racism and gender identity issues has ramped up since 2021.

Particularly in Southern states, including Texas and Florida, groups like Moms for Liberty have pressurized or taken over school boards, drawing up blacklists of the books they want banned.

They claim these books are pornographic or wrongly inflict feelings of guilt on white and non-LGBTQ students.

Among the novels they have targeted for removal -- in some cases, successfully -- are "The Catcher in the Rye," "The Handmaid's Tale," "Beloved," and "To Kill a Mockingbird."

The film shows how teachers and even students who have pushed back against censorship have endured angry confrontations at local meetings.

Librarians in some instances have received threats of criminal action or violence.

"It feels like I'm living in a dystopian novel right now," says librarian Nancy Jo Lambert in the film.

"If you would have asked me 10 years ago if I was gonna have security concerns at a librarian conference, I'd have been like, 'you're nuts,'" she says, after squeezing past protesters.

- 'Globalist' -

Also on Friday, Ardern attended the world premiere of "Prime Minister," which takes viewers behind-the-scenes for her five years as New Zealand leader.

Drawing on home video shot by her now-husband, it covers her widely praised and compassionate response to the Christchurch mosque shootings in 2019 and her more divisive handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Examining the misogyny she experienced as a young female -- and pregnant -- world leader, it also touches on her stark political differences with Donald Trump.

During Trump's first term, Ardern took a message of international cooperation to the same United Nations summit at which the US president robustly attacked the "globalist" view of the world.

Asked by AFP about Trump's return and her experiences with him, Ardern deflected, saying: "Empathy, kindness, I believe there is a place for that in public leadership and in politics.

"And I hope this story shares that form of leadership on the big screen."

She added: "Ultimately, I can't speak to any other countries' politics. I can only speak to the experience I had and the leadership that I believe in."

Aside from the documentaries, Friday at Sundance included the world premieres of surreal drama "Bubble & Squeak" starring Steven Yeun and psychological horror "Rabbit Trap" featuring Dev Patel.

Rapper A$AP Rocky and talk show host Conan O'Brien star in the comedy "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You."

Other A-listers expected at the festival over the weekend include Jennifer Lopez, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chloe Sevigny and Carey Mulligan.

Sundance runs until February 2.