Tear-jerking Oscar contender set to make history with prison release-Lara Goane-Entertainment – Metro

The movie focusses on how theatrical arts can help rehabilitate offenders and give them a reason.
(Picture by: Everett/REX/Shutterstock)

Sing Sing is set to be the first movie to be released in cinemas as well as in prisons at the same time.

A24 have decided to re-release the critically acclaimed beautiful movie and the Colman Domingo masterpiece will also be available in over 1,000 prisons across the US. The choice means it has the potential reach nearly one million inmates.

Initially released last summer, Sing Sing has since received three Independent Spirit Award nominations, an Actors Guild Award nomination and been considered a frontrunner for this year’s Oscars.

The groundbreaking film is based on a true story of a theatre program that ran at one of New York’s maximum-security prisons. Rather than an actual prison break, Sing Sing focuses on another escape; it was the first unit to offer inmates the opportunity to use the power of arts and performing to reduce hate and recidivism.

The cast is led by Emmy-award winning actor Colman Domingo, who plays Divine G, a man who has been wrongfully incarcerated.

Director Greg Kwedar wanted the production to bleed authenticity, therefore majority of cast members are in fact alumni of the RTA (Rehabilitation Through the Arts, the scheme that inspired the movie). Jon-Adrian ‘JJ’ Velazquez and Clarence ‘Divine Eye’ Maclin are among many of the ex-inmates who found their escape through the arts.

Fans have hailed Sing Sing as ‘one of the best movies of the year’, (Picture: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty Images)

‘My journey through education and the arts gave me hope during my wrongful conviction, restoring my faith in humanity, sparking a culture of redemption during my incarceration,’ Velazquez said.

Velazquez and his fellow RTA members believe ‘by providing access to the movie Sing Sing we can transform lives in ways beyond our imagination.’

Genius filmmaker Greg Kweder also provided equality from start to finish by paying every single person involved in the production of the hit film the exact same wage.

Clarence Maclin was only recently exonerated after 17 years in Sing Sing prison, (Picture: Everett/REX/Shutterstock)

Back in 2023, A24 broke records by hosting the first film festival hosted inside a prison. The San Quentin Film Festival in California screened Sing Sing to a theatre of men who were currently behind bars.

Speaking to the incarcerated audience Marcin said: ‘We represent y’all,’.

Sing Sing prison in New York, the centre of which is the film took inspiration, is not yet listed as one of the units that will receive Edovo’s tablet content.

Sing Sing will be re-released in cinemas on January 17.

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