Sing Sing
Summary
The story of John " Divine G " Whitfield is land to life in the fresh flick , Sing Sing . Oscar campaigner Colman Domingo ( wise offThe Color Purple ’s succeeder ) ace as Whitfield alongside a cast represent primarily of formerly incarcerate people , alumni of Sing Sing Prison ’s " Rehabilitation Through the Arts " program . This unique cast decision is not a gimmick ; it adds an extra layer of authenticity and empathy to the tale of how RTA is a living - changing political program for people in the prison house organization .
Domingo ’s co - champion is Clarence " Divine Eye " Maclin , who plays a interpretation of himself in the movie , which is partially based on his own experience in the prison system . In the film , Clarence is connive by the chance of represent on stage , but his tough hombre image and lifetime of toxic masculinity keep him from in full committing to the arts . In the end , talk Singis about Divine G and Divine Eye summoning their courage , embracing their exposure , and reaching out in an effort to form that rarest of masculine adherence : true friendship .
Although it has been a thought-provoking yr for movies , several feature - length dramas stand out as must - watch fare — and some of the best movies of 2024 .
While promoting the theatrical release ofSing Sing , Colman Domingo and Clarence " Divine Eye " Maclin sat down for an audience withScreen claptrap . They spoke about building the celluloid as a community in the same style as an RTA production is assembled , as well as the joyfulness they take in subverting audience expectations aboutso - called " prison movies"and the reductive stereotype and cliches that have limit the musical style for decades .
Sing Sing’s Colman Domingo & Clarence Maclin Flip The “Prison Movie” On Its Head
Screen Rant : I ’ve seen one C of movie and done hundreds of these consultation at this level in my career . And there ’s been maybe two or three where I ’m like , " This is something that people perfectly call for to go and see . " It ’s so human , it ’s so substantial , and it ’s so unlike anything else that ’s out there , citizenry need to see it because it will change their lives .
Clarence " Divine Eye " Maclin : give thanks you . give thanks you for incur it .
Clarence , tell me a small bit about what made you go , " Clint and Greg , they get it . They ’re going to do this tale decent , I will figure out with them to make this movie . "
Custom image by Simone Ashmoore
Clarence " Divine Eye " Maclin : Well , that was born out of a pile of conversations that we had . We had a lot of camaraderie and fraternity that was build when we were doing Zoom meetings . And when Clint and Greg follow out to New York to meet me , we hung out for a little while . We went out to feed . That was the building of the brotherhood and the examination of seeing each other .
As you know , derive from where I come from , the scope I have , you know , I read mass really well , and I believe I get it justly most of the time . And when I saw those brothers and heard their conversations , seeing where they want to go , I listen the authenticity in them . In the yesteryear , we ’ve had " experienced individual " that come into the prison and they want to help the " piteous prisoners , " like just so you may have a adept night or something or write me off as tax save off or something . We already experience that , and we did n’t find that with Clint and Greg .
Colman , what made you go , " Yeah , I believe in this , and I will put everything I have behind it ? "
Based on actual events, Sing Sing is a drama movie that tells the story of the Sing Sing Correctional Facility and a group of prisoners within that decide to stage their own musical production within the prison’s walls.
Colman Domingo : It was an idea that they were actually trying to figure out , and they ’d been trying to figure it out for age . And then they asked me and Clarence to come on board , so we can do these rapid growth and we can start to shape these ideas that were important to all of us .
I say this because the agency this has been build from the beginning is all of us , It was n’t something that we jumped on board . It was something that was built from the experience of these work force . And there was also inspiration from this Esquire magazine clause that was done about this RTA program . That was pretty wondrous . And then it was about , how do we build it from the ground up as a community ? So that ’s why I have to , of grade , right , because this has been build from the very beginning as a community .
Everyone has such equal partnership in this , in the way it was made , what was important to us . Clarence and I would tattle about what was important to the news report . The man would come do some rewrites , bring them back , present . We ’d talk about it , " Oh , that makes common sense . This makes sense . This is nerveless . This is not . " And then we do it again and again and ramp up this until we felt like , " Oh , this is what we want to say . This is what we want to say with this material and at this fourth dimension . " And so that feel , and I would expend my buddy ’s name here , that felt " Divine . " So we knew we were in a great place to make it in a unequalled way .
As I ’m process it through , that ’s the way thing are unremarkably made . You jump on control panel and someone has more agency with your chronicle and the way you tell it . It does n’t really include you . It just takes what you’re able to , what you’re able to convey . It does n’t take all of you . For this , it was command to impart all of us on board and say , these are your roles . You ’re a manufacturer . Clarence is also a producer . We ’re actors in it and we all have equal stakes in it and the room we build it in every individual way . So I jump on board when I thought I love all of it and the means it ’s proceed to be built , that way , and that we ’re work to pour our center and souls into it .
Exploring Art & The Human Soul In Sing Sing
There are a million prison movies out there , and there ’s every stereotype and bromide . A few eld ago I got to work with this prof , Nicole Fleetwood , who was writing a playscript , Marking Time : Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration , about artists who were incarcerated . experience to discover those conversation and experience the humanity of these hoi polloi on such an intimate degree was so inspirational to me . On TV , they never have citizenry in prison house talk about themselves and their artistic creation that room .
Colman Domingo : Is n’t it funny ? Because all those figure of speech , it always keeps the great unwashed from seeing folks as human . It ’s designed that way , so we do n’t see that folks have hopes , pipe dream , and dream and are taste to do well and who can go , " Oh , I can obtain tools that can actually help me work through this hooey . " And I ’m trusted my brother here can talk more about that live experience .
But I cerebrate it ’s interesting what we download and what we ’ve been generate . And I love that our cinema is working in this real glossy , sly way . Because every clip , I know , I see it on people ’s faces . They ’re like , Oh , here ’s going to be the scene where he gets stabbed . Here comes a scene where this happens , but it ’s transformed . I think everyone ’s got to unpack their own unconscious diagonal about what they think they know about these human beings . Clarence , what do you have to say about that ?
Clarence " Divine Eye " Maclin : I agree , sir . ( Laughs ) I believe that this definitely help oneself individuals realine themselves and re - see us and question how they sire to those assumptions , how they got to that and who put them there because you never saw us do that . You only let somebody tell you that that ’s our demeanor or that ’s , I want to say that I ’m an individual who represents a mess of people that want to be seen as they are , and not how you portray them to be .
Especially since prisons are supposed to be reclamation marrow , but the only rehabilitation that proceed on is in these political program that need to be agitate , kicking and shrieking , to be funded . Prison is supposed to be for rehabilitation , but it ’s punishment instead . I ’m so glad this movie is about genuine rehabilitation and about these hoi polloi who are willing to take that incredibly difficult first step .
Clarence " Divine Eye " Maclin : For me , the first stride was , I had to get out of my own way . It was n’t like I was upset about how other people think about me because I was already who I was , in the prison house system . They already know me . I do n’t worry about what nobody recall , but I had to get out my own way , I had to get out of my own header . I had to get away from my own perceptions of who I thought I was , who I thought I was supposed to be . Like , it was all proper for me to be vulnerable . It ’s all right for me to be sitting on a hill with this nerd , who you might think is a swot , and I ’m over here discover how to speak from him . It ’s all right . I do n’t care how you perceive that . You experience what I mean ?
I had to get to that and getting in this computer programme help me to identify that . The Guy that I may walk past in the hall every solar day and we never ever interact because I do n’t think he ’s on my level . I do n’t conceive that he ’s coolheaded enough . You know what I ’m saying ? To put it that kind of way . But to be able to get past that and to see an somebody as a human being … You do n’t really have to be as tough as me . You do n’t have to be everything I am to just be cool with me , bro . You be intimate what I signify ? For us to be all right , for us to come together and , and create something , you know , I call back diverseness is a beautiful thing . If everybody was Divine , that shit would be boring as f*ck , bro .
Colman , you ’ve had an incredible trajectory as an player , fromLincolntoFear The Walking Dead . Go back to when you were a " Wee Lil ' Colman " wanting to act for the first time . Was there a barrier that you needed to land down to do it ? What made you desire to do it ?
Clarence " Divine Eye " Maclin : I’m glad you gave me that . " Wee Lil ' Colman , " I got him now .
Colman Doingo : Aw , are you gon na call me that from now on ? Listen … I ’ve had such a beautiful and still have a beautiful , uh , I ’m go to say , " story , " as an role player . And at the center of it , I ’ve always want to just be a part of thing that made a difference in some way , that would make people think . I can make for a villain . I can take on a hero . I can act all unlike bits of humanity . In their center , they ’re complex . It ’s important to me because , as I lay out black and brown human , I want to make indisputable that you see our complexness , even if the frightful people or good people , I remember people are people , you be intimate what I mean ?
A lot of multitude do n’t , sadly .
Colman Domingo : I imagine that keeps us polarized . That keeps us not thinking . It ’s easy . It ’s well-fixed to villainize somebody and say it ’s " Them " and " Us . " That ’s our whole guild . We ’ve all got light and dark in us . I believe my job as an artist , is to toenail that business and bring us closer together in some way of life . Like my brother here just said , if we just sat and talked to somebody , we realise , we have more in coarse than we imagined , but we have to be unforced .
And that ’s the beauty of these broadcast . They impart people together and there ’s a committedness that we all make in dramaturgy or building anything aesthetic , we make a commitment to each other that we ’re start to jump off this ledge and there ’s pop off to be a safe place for us and we ’re going to be all right . I would narrate that Wee Lil ' Colman to follow that as his North star and to confide it . It ’s medicinal drug that people do n’t sleep with they necessitate , and I ’d tell Wee Lil ' Colman , keep discover tricky way to get people to take the medicine .
About Sing Sing
A dramaturgy troupe finds escape from the realism of imprisonment through the creativeness of putting on a turn in this film based on a real - spirit rehabilitation programme and featuring a shape that includes formerly incarcerated actors .
Check out our otherSing Singinterviews here :
let the cat out of the bag Singdebuts in select theaters on July 12 and spread out nationwide on August 2 .
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Cast
base on actual event , Sing Sing is a play movie that secern the story of the Sing Sing Correctional Facility and a grouping of prisoners within that decide to stage their own musical production within the prison ’s walls .
