Filmhouse/New Kalamata Cinema Club-SING SING

Based on a 2005 Esquire article titled “The Sing Sing Follies,” written by John H. Richardson, Greg Kuentar’s film delves into the maximum-security prisons of Sing Sing in New York City. It tells a story essentially based on the real experiences of those who participated in the theatre programmes of the US government’s Rehabilitation Through the Arts project.

Building the plot around the excellent Colman Domingo, who plays a real-life hero, John “Divine G” Whitfield, who was one of the most influential personalities on the program, the film frames him with amateurs who served their sentence at Sing Sing and returned to the familiar setting of the declassified prisons where the filming took place, and even with the help of psychological support, to relive and represent the most pleasant parenthesis of the most challenging period of their lives.

It is clear that at the heart of The Sing Sing Show, the redemptive effect of art on the arduous journey of people who experimented with something utterly unknown to them and experienced a catalytic surprise is highlighted – something that already places Sing Sing in the discussion for the upcoming Oscars in a film that overflows with humanity and sensitivity guided by a true story that illuminates an alternative, harsh, but also optimistic meeting of life and art.

It is no coincidence that The Sing Sing Show has already won 53 Awards last year and this year out of a total of 175 nominations at International Festivals, while it is nominated for 3 Oscars for 2025 (Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Song)

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12th
SING SING
Drama | 12+ | 2024 | USA | 107’
Director: Greg Kwedar
Starring: Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, Sean San Jose
21:00 | Kalamata Labour Centre| General admission is 5 euros. Admission is 3 euros for the unemployed, large families and students, and free for those under 18.