Sing Sing initially premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2023. Its U.S. premiere was at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, TX on March 8, 2024.
Read select press coverage below.
Learn more about the film and the RTA program.
Notable Press
North Texas Daily: SXSW 2024: ‘Sing Sing’ is an authentic, triumphant celebration of artistic expression within the American prison system
“Alongside the incredible work done by every creative in the project, massive credit must be freely handed to the actual RTA and their work. The potent display of humanity gifted to the audience by Kwedar and Bentley is only possible because of the real stories brought forth by the work of the RTA. The resilience and human spirit they strengthen in those incarcerated is why Divine Eye, the real Divine G, who has a cameo in “Sing Sing,” and the rest of the cast assembled flawless performances.”
Pride: Colman Domingo’s new drama Sing Sing doesn’t hit a single false note (SXSW review)
“The film opens with Colman in full thespian mode, delivering a soliloquy with all the grace and gravitas you would expect. From there, we follow him backstage where he celebrates the pure joy of performance with his cast mates. It’s warm, it’s familiar, it’s human. We then cut to the cold and winding institutional halls of the prison. Reduced to silent numbers, the men line up while a guard shouts at them. With this stark and shocking juxtaposition, the film quickly makes its case for why RTA is so life-changing for the men who join its ranks.”
VARIETY: Colman Domingo Explains Why He Attended the SXSW Premiere of ‘Sing Sing’ the Same Weekend as the Oscars (EXCLUSIVE)
“I’m here because this is the work that I believe in. Every actor hopes that they can do work like this, I think. I’m very proud of the way we built this in a very equitable model. I’m very proud of what it can possibly do to change minds and amplify these voices, and also to really change the system.” Colman Domingo
BUT WHY THO? REVIEW: ‘SING SING’ Is Emotionally Perfect
“In a landscape that refuses to see these men and their stories as anything but their trauma, Sing Sing tells us of their joy. The film breaks your heart and rebuilds it stronger than before.”
HARPER’S BAZAAR: 10 Can’t-Miss Films at South by Southwest
“In prisons, where personal safety is not always guaranteed, many incarcerated people have cited art as a powerful emotional outlet. Founded in 1996, the nonprofit Rehabilitation Through the Arts offers yearlong workshops in theater, creative writing, music, and more to people inside. In Sing Sing, the troupe in one such program puts on a play on the inside. Many of the performers are portrayed by real-life RTA alumni.”
River Journal: RTA Celebrates the US Premiere of ‘Sing Sing’ At SXSW“
“Sing Sing is a powerful film that provides a unique lens to the incarcerated community and we are incredibly honored and proud that it brings the impact of RTA’s life-changing programs to the silver screen for the world to experience. Congratulations to the entire cast for their superb performances. Our goal is to broaden our impact of fostering personal growth and community building by expanding our reach to more people in prisons across New York and the nation.” Leslie Lichter, RTA Interim Executive Director
DEADLINE: ‘Sing Sing’ Review: Greg Kwedar’s Ode To The Humanity Behind The Bars – Toronto Film Festival
“The film leaves its audience with a resonating thought: that behind every prison number, there exists a human, yearning for acceptance, understanding, and a chance to rewrite their story.”
“Sing Sing presents a vibrant tapestry, highlighting the lighter moments in the otherwise shadowed confines of incarceration. At the heart of this is the Rehabilitation Through The Arts (RTA) program. An oasis in the desert of the penal system, RTA illuminates the film’s central theme: that even behind bars, the spirit can soar, uninhibited, into the expanses of imagination and creativity.”
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: ‘Sing Sing’ Review: Colman Domingo Shines in a Subtle Portrait of a Prison Arts Program
“an urgent document of our time.”
“Kwedar’s film is a portrait of friendship and a tribute to art’s restorative value. The helmer’s considered direction coaxes a lot of big lessons from this quiet film. Sing Sing is about the gift of creating with community and the redemptive nature of self-expression.”
VANITY FAIR: Colman Domingo Anchors the Riveting, Tender Prison Drama Sing Sing
“Domingo’s transcendent performance — he’s also here at the festival with the Netflix-backed Rustin, but this is the one to watch for me — may be the center, but it’s the world that flowers all around him that makes Sing Sing feel so special. Currently seeking distribution at TIFF, it ought to win over many more audiences from here.”
“Written in collaboration with people formerly incarcerated at the Sing Sing, the story of a theatrical prison troupe finds deep beauty in an effort to make art for art’s sake.”
VARIETY: ‘Sing Sing’ Review: Colman Domingo and a Cast of Ex-Criminals Demonstrate How Art Can Heal in Prison
“Cages can’t contain the sheer amount of imagination on offer in “Sing Sing”
“Domingo gives a commanding performance…Adding quite a lot to the proceedings is Paul Raci, who brought similar integrity and soulfulness to “Sound of Metal.”
“There’s a live-wire energy to scenes where the whole cast participates, accentuated by Scola’s whirlwind camerawork and the nimble and energetic piano-and-string score from Bryce Dessner during rehearsal scenes.”
VARIETY: A24 Acquires Colman Domingo Feature ‘Sing Sing’ Out of Toronto
“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.”
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: A24 Lands Colman Domingo Drama ‘Sing Sing’
“A24 has landed the U.S. rights to Sing Sing, the Colman Domingo-fronted drama that premiered at Toronto Film Festival about a performing arts prison program.
Greg Kwedar directs the feature that focuses on the real-life Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) program run out of the eponymous prison that sees the incarcerated producing and acting in stage productions. The story centers on the friendship of RTA alumni John “Divine G” Whitfield (portrayed by Domingo) and Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who plays himself, as they stage an original production.”
VANITY FAIR: The 14 Best Movies From the Fall Film Festivals
“Domingo’s performance in Sing Sing is a showstopper, as I wrote in my review, but the film is a true ensemble effort, cowritten by director Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley in collaboration with two Sing Sing prison alumni, one of whom plays himself in the film. It’s a film full of small miracles that deserves a long life beyond the festival.”
ROGER EBERT: TIFF 2023: Rustin, Sing Sing
“A redemptive portrait of theater’s power to heal, emancipate, and rebel.”
THE WRAP: ‘Sing Sing’ Review: Colman Domingo’s Prison-Set Drama Packs a Punch
“….There’s an urgency and a grit to it, and a sense of lives lost and occasionally regained. These men aren’t making great theater, but behind these walls they’re doing something other than waiting for time to run out.”
“But the action, much of it stormy, takes place inside. The former inmates playing themselves bring verisimilitude to “Sing Sing,” with Maclin particularly crucial. But Domingo brings the storm and the heart; the performance won’t overshadow “Rustin” this awards season, but it’s another sign that the time has come for this deep and soulful actor to get some real attention.”
THAT SHELF: TIFF 2023: Sing Sing Review, A cast of formerly incarcerated actors bring life and energy to Sing Sing
“Brimming with energy and life, Sing Sing is a joyous, celebratory film whose greatest aim is to spread the message that the industrial prison complex needs radical change and that broken human beings can be made whole again through the arts.
MR WILL WONG: #TIFF23: “SING SING” REVIEW
“A stunning achievement”
“It is impossible to stress the impact SING SING has made on me.. the performances resonated with me, hours after leaving the rapturously received world premiere that I attended.”
