The film, directed by Greg Kwedar and starring Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead, Euphoria), explores social reintegration and the transformative power of theatre to humanise and heal.
Valladolid, 1 October 2024. The 69th Valladolid International Film Festival (SEMINCI) will close with the screening of the film Sing Sing, directed by the American filmmaker Greg Kwedar, on 26 October. The director will present the feature film in a special session at the Teatro Calderón, immediately after the festival’s awards ceremony, which is scheduled to open on 18 October with the screening of the Spanish film They Will Be Dust, by Carlos Marques-Marcet, included in the official competition section.
Sing Sing displays its social commitment by portraying the lives of a group of prisoners who find in theatre a means of escape and personal transformation. By performing plays that reflect their own experiences, the characters discover in the creative process a powerful tool for redemption. Theatre allows them to explore their humanity and face the hardships of prison life from a new perspective.
Greg Kwedar, considered one of the most interesting emerging voices in American independent cinema, returns to move us after the success of his previous film, Transpecos (2016). With Sing Sing, Kwedar encourages reflection on the prison system as well as the role of art as a means of salvation, offering a deeply compassionate and sensitive vision of life behind bars.
The script for Sing Sing, co-written by Kwedar and his frequent collaborator Clint Bentley (Jockey), is based on the 2005 Esquire magazine article The Sing Sing Follies. In it, journalist John H. Richardson recounted the performance of the musical comedy Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code at the maximum security prison Sing Sing as part of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) programme. The article recounted how people convicted of serious crimes, such as murder, used theatre to better understand themselves, which had a profound impact on Richardson as he discovered the humanity hidden behind prison walls.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the film is the mix of professional actors with former students of the RTA programme who have already been reintegrated into society. Colman Domingo (Fear the Walking Dead), Oscar nominee for Best Actor for Rustin and Emmy winner for his role in Euphoria, plays John ‘Divine G.’ Whitfield, one of the promoters of the prison theatre programme. Released from prison in 2012, he now works as a novelist and screenwriter, internet radio show host, film director and producer, and youth counsellor. Paul Raci (Oscar nominee for Sounds of Metal) plays Brent Buell, the charismatic and compassionate educator who dedicated his time to helping incarcerated people find their voice through theatre.
Participants playing themselves in the film include Jon-Adrian ‘JJ’ Velazquez, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent 24 years in prison until being pardoned in 2021, receiving a personal apology from President Joe Biden. Also featured is the story of Sean ‘Dino’ Johnson, who first entered prison at the age of 15 and served a 15-year sentence at Sing Sing for drug trafficking, illustrating the reality of many young people caught up in gang life.
The production is also notable for the stipulated remuneration model, whereby all the actors (including Domingo) received the minimum daily wage stipulated by the actors’ union, while having an equal share of the film’s profits.
Through Sing Sing, Kwedar offers a hopeful look at the power of art to change lives and challenges public perceptions of social reintegration, highlighting the humanity that can emerge even in the most difficult environments. Distributed in Spain by MadFer Films and Alfa Pictures.
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