WURTSBORO — Indie Lens Pop-Up, presented by ITVS, INDEPENDENT LENS, and Mamakating Library will host free screenings of two documentaries in April. On April 4 from 1:30-3:30pm, is a FREE preview screening The Tallest Dwarf, followed by a discussion about identity. Then, on Saturday, April 25, the Library will host a second screening of the documentary, The Librarians from 1:30-3:30pm, featuring a post-screening discussion with local filmmaker Alethea Pape.

The Tallest Dwarf charts filmmaker Julie Forrest Wyman’s quest to find her place within the little people (LP) community, exploring dwarfism within her own family, and the diverse experiences of other little people. The film examines how dwarf identity is being reshaped by culture, technology, and healthcare and explores the diverse experiences of LPs. In search of community and belonging after a lifelong sense of feeling different, Wyman explores attitudes toward normality and highlights LPs who tell their stories of growing up, navigating pregnancy, and finding agency within a complex health system. Through intimate stories, creative collaborations, and archival history, the film delves into identity and medicine, asking whether society should change people or the structures that limit them.

After the screening, the library will host an engaging and interactive discussion that invites audiences into a shared exploration of belonging, acceptance, and identity, inviting participants to consider how our stories are told by others and how individuals and communities might reclaim their own narrative. The Tallest Dwarf will debut on INDEPENDENT LENS on April 6 at 10 p.m. ET on PBS and the PBS app. 

The Librarians follows a courageous network of besieged librarians as they unite to examine how book restriction policies are shaping library collections. The film takes viewers from Texas to Florida and beyond, where local libraries have become unexpected battlegrounds in a national struggle over parental control, intellectual freedom, and democracy itself. After the screening, a local filmmaker and local librarian will host an engaging and interactive discussion about censorship, its effects on democracy, and the broader implications for education and intellectual freedom. 

These programs are part of a four-part documentary screening series at the library this spring. You may register online by using the calendar feature at mamakatinglibrary.org or by calling 1-845-888-8004. For more information about any of our programs visit our website or follow us on Facebook or Instagram using the handle @mamakatinglibrary. This library program is free and open to the public. The Mamakating Library is located at 128 Sullivan Street in Wurtsboro, New York 12790.