Rehabilitation Through the Arts – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

SING SING – Review by Diane Carson

August 10, 2024August 11, 2024 Diane Carson a24, Colman Donimgo, Greg Kwedar, Pat Scola, Rehabilitation Through the Arts, Sing Sing

Sing Sing. The words evoke images of Jimmy Cagney in Angels with Dirty Faces. Director Greg Kwedar’s Sing Sing bears little resemblance to Hollywood’s prison films, all to its credit. For Kwedar and inmates prove without doubt the marvelous value of their Rehabilitation Through the Arts program, begun at the upstate New York Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison in 1996. Contemporary events unfold with a theater group of prisoners: auditioning others, casting, deciding on a comedy they’ll write and perform, rehearsals, debates, and a performance. Solid dialogue reveals their personalities as the men reach out and struggle to understand each other. All of this occurs in close quarters dotted with outdoor breaks, exchanges of deeply heartfelt, poignant revelations more honest than most experience in the external, open-air world. Memorable, it invites careful observation and insights into complex individuals.

Reviews

SING SING – Review by T.J. Callahan

August 2, 2024August 5, 2024 T. J. Callahan a24, Colman Donimgo, Greg Kwedar, Rehabilitation Through the Arts, Sing Sing

Sing Sing is based on the true story of the metamorphosis of a group of incarcerated men in a maximum security prison who use an acting troupe as a form of escape. The incomparable Colman Domingo plays John “Divine G” Whitfield, a man imprisoned for a crime he says he didn’t commit. While working on his release, he finds release with the Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program, a real-life repertory company led by inmates. What makes Sing Sing exceptional is the real prisoners who comprised the supporting cast and played themselves, especially Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who also helped write the story.