Growing up in Brooklyn, John Divine G Whitfield was a natural performer.
Prisons are brutal, especially [in] New York, they have a very draconian system,verydraconian.
So those moments of escapism are life-saving.
Colman Domingo (foreground) and Clarence Maclin in ‘Sing Sing.‘A24
Ultimately,Sing Singis about how theater has allowed these incarcerated men to dream beyond their life-altering convictions.
I was like, Im not going to fall victim to this, he says.
Im not gonna let the system further destroy me by me helping destroy myself.
He also serves as a writer and producer on the film and is thrilled to have Domingo portraying him.
Many of the formerly incarceratedSing Singcast members are playing themselves in the film, rather than a fictional character.
Incarceration peel[s] away peoples individuality and humanity, Kwedar says.
Someone becoming a number and not not a name first…
In the summer of 2022, camera crews began taking video of the exteriors of the Sing Singprison complex.
Interior scenes were filmed within a decommissioned prison, Downstate Correctional Facility in the Hudson Valley.
The green prison uniforms were itchy, he says.
In here, were free.
Were free to express ourselves, were free to communicate.
I can get in front of my brothers and cry right now and nobody will judge me.
A lot of us have a mental prison, Johnson, 59, says.
Were not incarcerated physically, sometimes were mentally incarcerated.
And me, finding my freedom beyond a wall with creativity and the arts, that was powerful.
The arts taught me how to travel mentally.
Jon-Adrian JJ Velazquez, who stars as himself, used to be an audience member.
They controlled the narrative, just as they did on the RTA stage.
Acting is all about playing a role, right?
They could turn it all around.
