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The Colman Domingo-led film Sing Sing is set to become the first movie to be released in both movie theaters and prisons simultaneously.
Directed by Greg Kwedar, the film stars Domingo as John “Divine G” Whitfield, an incarcerated man who finds new purpose when he joins a prison theater program. Based on the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program at Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison in New York State, the movie’s cast is largely composed of formerly incarcerated men who are alumni of the program themselves. The movie’s groundbreaking release is a collaboration between film distributor A24, RTA, and Edovo, a nonprofit that provides incarcerated people in over 1,100 correctional facilities with free access to educational and vocational programs via tablets. When Sing Sing is re-released in theaters on January 17, it will also be available to nearly a million incarcerated viewers in the U.S. in 1,100 correctional facilities (excluding the real-life Sing Sing, which doesn’t yet have access to Edovo tablets).
“Storytelling has an incredible way of sparking hope and building connections, even in the toughest circumstances,” Edovo founder and CEO Brian Hill said in a statement, per the Hollywood Reporter. “With Sing Sing, we’re giving incarcerated individuals an opportunity to see themselves in a story of resilience and transformation, and to feel inspired to imagine new possibilities for our lives.”
Just a few weeks later, on February 3, Sing Sing’s cast will reunite to perform the play from the film, Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code, live at the off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop.
Both Domingo and his co-star Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin have received plenty of Oscar buzz heading into awards season. Domingo was nominated for Best Actor last year for his portrayal of queer civil rights leader Bayard Rustin in the 2022 eponymous Netflix film Rustin. If he wins an Academy Award, he will become the first out gay Black man to win an acting Oscar.
“I’m careful about the stories that I tell. In every depiction, I want to humanize all these men that I play, whether they’re heroes or villains,” Domingo said during an interview on the Oscars 2024 red carpet. “I want [audiences] to see that I care deeply about depictions of Black men in the world, making spaces for women in the world and all of our communities as well… I want to shine like a diamond.”
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