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What Emilio Estevez's 'The Public' Tells Us About Our Relationship To Libraries

emilio estevez
Andy Kropa
/
Invision/AP
Emilio Estevez attends the premiere of 'The Public' at the New York Public Library on Monday, April 1, 2019, in New York.

Cincinnati’s rise in the film industry is well documented, but the latest movie to premiere after being shot here is unique: it’s actually set here, too. The Public, directed by Emilio Estevez and starring Alec Baldwin, Michael K. Williams, Christian Slater and other Hollywood stars, tells the story of a takeover of the downtown library by homeless men and women amid a brutal Midwestern cold front that puts local emergency shelters at full capacity. The sit-in leads to a long standoff involving a crisis negotiator, a district attorney and two librarians caught up in the middle of it all.

What does the movie tell us about the actual homeless situation in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, as well as its relationship to local libraries?  

Joining Cincinnati Edition to explore that topic are Strategies to End Homelessness president and CEO Kevin Finn; Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky executive director Kim Webb; Civic Engagement Coordinator for the Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County David Siders; and The Public actor Michael Douglas Hall, formerly of Cincinnati and now based in Los Angeles.

Watch the trailer for The Public below. 

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Michael Monks brings a broad range of experience to WVXU-FM as the host of Cincinnati Edition, Cincinnati Public Radio's weekday news and information talk show.