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Colman Domingo first met Clarence Maclin on a Zoom call in 2022. Domingo’s slate that year included playing Mister in the remake of The Color Purple and the title role in Rustin, a biopic about Civil Rights activist Bayard Rustin that would earn him an Oscar nomination. Maclin, by contrast, was a decade out from serving his sentence of 15 years in New York’s notorious Sing Sing prison for robbery. “We started talking about the bonds of brotherhood that Shakespeare illuminates,” says Domingo. Shakespeare, they agreed, was key to the film they were about to make together.

Sing Sing, director Greg Kwedar and co-writer Clint Bentley’s prison-set drama — more than eight years in the making — first screened to rave reviews at the Toronto Film Festival in 2023. Now, after a slow build, it is a buzzy Oscar contender. Domingo plays John Whitfield, A.K.A. Divine G, a leading force...

Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez has been exonerated.

The 48-year-old Sing Sing actor, who served nearly 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, was exonerated of his wrongful murder conviction on Monday morning (September 30) in a Manhattan courthouse in New York City.

The actor “held back tears, pounded his chest and pumped his fist as he hugged friends and family,” via Variety, and “hugged his mother as she wept and cried out, ’27 years!’ in reference to how long it has almost been since Velazquez was first convicted.”

He co-stars with Colman Domingo in the A24 prison drama that follows a group of incarcerated men who find purpose in acting in theater productions. The ensemble features formerly incarcerated actors, and takes place at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where he was falsely imprisoned.

Keep reading to find out more…

Sing Sing star Clarence Maclin, director Greg Kwedar and Brent Buell,...

After serving nearly 24 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, “Sing Sing” actor Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez has been exonerated of his wrongful murder conviction.

The 48-year-old Velazquez held back tears, pounded his chest and pumped his fist as he hugged friends and family after he was officially cleared by the judge in a downtown Manhattan courthouse Monday morning. He hugged his mother as she wept and cried out, “27 years!” in reference to how long it has almost been since Velazquez was first convicted.

Velazquez co-stars with Colman Domingo in the A24 prison drama that follows a group of incarcerated men who find purpose in acting in theater productions. Featuring an ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors, “Sing Sing” takes place at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, which is where Velazquez was falsely imprisoned.

Among those at the court showing support for Velazquez were “Sing Sing” star Clarence Maclin,...

Some men would rather go to prison than to therapy. Or at least, some men do go to prison rather than to therapy. This intensely empathetic and non-judgmental drama, based on a true story, suggests that beauty and emotion might result if desperate, damaged men were allowed to find other ways to express themselves, and emphasises the power of art — even bad art — to change lives.

Colman Domingo stars as John ‘Divine G’ Whitfield (the real Divine G makes a cameo appearance), a renaissance man and lifer who has spent his decades inside writing novels and plays when he’s not advocating tirelessly for himself and other inmates. He is a founder member of the Rta, the Rehabilitation Through the Arts prison theatre group at the notorious Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Somewhat against his better judgment he admits the drug dealer Clarence ‘Divine Eye’ Maclin (playing himself with extraordinarily sharp...

A24 is offering free screenings of “Sing Sing” at AMC theaters across the U.S.

Through its “See Sing Sing” campaign, the studio has partnered with celebs including Jesse Williams, Bowen Yang, Mark Duplass, Janicza Bravo and Dax Shepard, who are championing the film about a group of incarcerated men who put on theatrical shows.

Screenings from Aug. 22-28 will be “hosted” by Natasha Lyonne, Stephanie Hsu, Bette Midler, Gabrielle Union, Liza Koshy, Common and the Brooklyn Nets.

By visiting the “See Sing Sing” website, you can select your city and input your email to receive a code for a free ticket, redeemable at participating AMC theaters.

From director Greg Kwedar, “Sing Sing” is based on the true story of John “Divine G” Whitfield (Colman Domingo), who is serving time at Sing Sing Correctional Facility for a crime he did not commit. A gifted writer and actor, Divine G finds...

Inspired by a project that uses the arts for rehabilitation, this is an uplifting, energetic film – but Domingo’s showy performance is a little out of place

There’s charm, energy and optimism in this big-hearted film, inspired by the Rehabilitation Through the Arts project that teaches theatre skills to US prisoners. The movie’s genesis is an Esquire magazine article from 2005 about an ensemble fantasy-comedy musical performed by inmates of Sing Sing maximum security facility in New York state. The movie invites us to hear the words in the title as joyful imperatives. It is performed largely by genuine former inmates playing themselves, featuring rehearsal scenes interspersed with variously tense or moving private conversations. There is a resemblance to Alan Parker’s Fame, to which the film playfully alludes, although the proceedings are evidently too serious to allow for the more obvious comparison with Max Bialystock’s song Prisoners...

Colman Domingo in Sing Sing. Courtesy of A24

Sing Sing is not about vocalizing but a powerful, moving drama about the transformative power of art in an deeply human story about men incarcerated at the Sing Sing penitentiary in rural New York. Nonetheless, Sing Sing does indeed sing, with a tour-de-force performance by Colman Domingo as one of the men participating in the prison theater arts program, a program that transforms the lives of those incarcerated through performing in plays and expressing their humanity and finding uplift.

Sing Sing Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison about 30 miles north of Manhattan on the east bank of the Hudson River in New York, is the setting for the true story-based Sing Sing. In this very different kind of prison drama, Colman Domingo stars as John “Divine G” Whitfield, a man imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, who finds emotional release...

Growing up in Brooklyn, John “Divine G” Whitfield was a natural performer. As a Bruce Lee-obsessed teenager, he and a friend would create karate movies, charging 10 cents a pop to view the action-packed films. He grooved on the local television program Soap Factory Disco and enrolled in a High School for Performing Arts in the 1970s. He sang. He DJ’d. He did acrobatics. So when Whitfield was incarcerated for a homicide he didn’t commit in the late 1980s, he intuitively leaned into the arts for an emotional release.

You do not meet John Whitfield, known to friends and enemies alike by his nickname Divine G, as a person convicted of a crime. You are introduced to him onstage as a performer, bringing a production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream to a close as an audience of fellow incarcerated men applaud. It’s a small but crucial detail, and helps set the stage, literally and otherwise, for what Sing Sing is aiming to do. A prison drama less interested in crime and punishment than in catharsis and the creative power of theater,...

Founded in 1996, Rehabilitation Through the Arts (Rta) helps incarcerated people “develop critical life skills through the arts,” per the program’s website. The organization currently offers different arts-based workshops across multiple New York correctional facilities, but theater remains their flagship program. Members of the prison population stage classic and contemporary plays alongside developing original works for the benefit of their peers and families.

“Art as therapy” might be a hoary concept in the privileged abstract, but within the context of a punitive system all but designed to degrade, there’s genuine merit to the idea that creative collaboration can help foster empathy and reconnect a person to their shared humanity. In fact, the proof is in the pudding: Less than three percent of Rta members return to prison vs. 60% of the prison population nationwide. By providing a safe space to be vulnerable and inhabit different perspectives, Rta offers a humane alternative to criminal justice,...

Sing SingImage: A24

The power of performance is the central exploration of Sing Sing, the latest collaboration from director Greg Kwedar and co-writer Clint Bentley. Taking place in the titular maximum security prison in Ossining, New York, the film follows John “Divine G” Whitfield (Colman Domingo), a skilled writer and...

Exclusive: A24 will hold a special screening Sing Sing, the Greg Kwedar film starring Colman Domingo, af the correctional facility in Ossining, New York on June 20, the distributor said, followed by a Q&a and series of additional showings for the general population inside the facility and outside guests.

Sing Sing is based on the true story of John “Divine G” Whitfield (Domingo), who’s imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit but finds purpose behind bars by acting in a theater group alongside other incarcerated men including wary newcomer, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin (played by himself).

They were part of program called Rta, or Rehabilitation Through the Arts. Launched at Sing Sing in 1996, Rta has grown from a single theater workshop to a comprehensive arts program in multiple prisons in New York State and is a world leader in arts-in-prison programming, the organization said. Less than 3% of Rta...

Colman Domingo uses the performing arts to connect with fellow inmates in the first trailer for the A24 drama Sing Sing.

Director Greg Kwedar’s feature is set to hit theaters in July after premiering at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Sing Sing focuses on the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts (Rta) program that allows prisoners at New York’s Sing Sing Correctional Facility to produce and act in their own stage projects. The movie stars Domingo and Paul Raci alongside a cast comprised mostly of formerly incarcerated actors, many of whom previously participated in Rta.

Sing Sing follows the real-life friendship between inmates John “Divine G” Whitfield (Domingo) and Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who plays himself, as the group works to put together an original production entitled Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code. The movie is based on author John H. Richardson’s 2005 Esquire article “The Sing Sing...

Colman Domingo is on a remarkable run, and ahead of Oscar night and his nomination for “Rustin,” A24 has released the first trailer for his next moving drama, “Sing Sing.”

Greg Kwedar directed “Sing Sing,” which follows the true story of a leader of a theater troupe in prison and how they use acting to escape the realities of their incarceration, putting on a play all while Domingo’s character is seeking parole. The film is based on a real-life rehabilitation program, and the movie even features a cast that includes formerly incarcerated actors.

Domingo leads the cast that also includes Paul Raci, an Oscar nominee for “Sound of Metal.” And A24, which picked up the film out of last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, has announced it is eyeing a theatrical release this July for the movie. It will have its U.S. premiere at the SXSW Film festival on Friday.

A24 has acquired theatrical distribution rights to “Sing Sing,” five days after the Colman Domingo-starring drama made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The indie banner confirmed the deal Friday evening.

Directed by Greg Kwedar, the film is inspired by the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York, following a group of inmates who collaborate on stage shows. Domingo, who was also represented at TIFF with the George C. Wolfe-directed biopic “Rustin” from Netflix, leads “Sing Sing,” joined by a cast that includes Paul Raci, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his supporting turn in “Sound of Metal,” as well as Clarence Maclin and Sean San José.

“Sing Sing” was financed and produced by Black Bear, the Marfa Peach Company and Edith Productions, with Kwedar working with Clint Bentley to adapt the script from Brent Buell’s...

A24 has acquired the domestic theatrical rights to “Sing Sing,” starring Colman Domingo, according to an individual with knowledge of the project.

The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and A24 is planning a 2024 theatrical release. The deal is reported to be in the seven figures.

In his review of the film, TheWrap’s Steve Pond wrote: “Written and directed by Greg Kwedar (‘Jockey’), the indie drama is a curious concoction that finds veteran actor Domingo playing a would-be playwright in a theater program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility; his fellow actors, with the notable exception of ‘Sound of Metal’ Oscar nominee Paul Raci, are, for the most part, former prisoners who took place in that actual program and are billed in the credits as playing themselves. The result isn’t seamless or slick, but there’s an urgency and a grit to it, and a sense of lives lost and occasionally regained.

Exclusive: In competitive bidding, A24 has acquired U.S. theatrical rights to Sing Sing, the Greg Kwedar-directed drama that stars Colman Domingo. The film premiered at Toronto to rapturous reviews and A24 is plotting a 2024 theatrical release.

Financed and produced by Black Bear, the Marfa Peach Company and Edith Productions, Sing Sing revolves around a theater group that escapes the reality of incarceration through the creativity of staging a play, with a cast that includes actors who have been incarcerated. Clint Bentley & Kwedar adapted the script from Brent Buell’s play, Breakin’ The Mummy’s Code and John H. Richardson’s The Sing Sing Follies.

Bentley and Kwedar produced with Monique Walton. Colman Domingo, Raul Domingo, Michael Heimler, Teddy Schwarzman, Larry Kalas, Larry Kelly, Nancy Schafer, Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, and John “Divine G” Whitfield are the exec producers.

CAA Media Finance brokered the domestic deal, and Black Bear is selling international territories.

In his latest feature, Sing Sing, the director Greg Kwedar crafts a sincere story of friendship and artistic expression at Sing Sing, a maximum-security prison in upstate New York. Rehabilitation Through the Arts, or Rta, is a program that helps people in jail cultivate community through theater, dance and other artistic mediums. Using a mix of professional actors and alumni from the program, Kwedar chronicles the experiences of a group of incarcerated men preparing to stage a new and ambitious production. Sing Sing doesn’t set out to be an overtly political film, but its sensitive approach to portraying the lives of its characters makes it an urgent document of our time.

The riots and demonstrations of 2020 renewed conversations about the reach of the carceral state in the U.S. Abolition became a hot topic, but for those unaffected by the tendrils of the American prison system, the lives of...