Inside this maximum security prison, a film festival proves ‘a little bit healing’
At the Sing Sing maximum security prison, about 40 miles north of New York City, the campus chapel was bustling with activity on a recent Thursday. Guests and participants of the first-ever Sing Sing Film Festival wore name tags and talked excitedly amongst each other, while a bevy of snacks lay on a table in front of the altar.
It looked just like any other film festival, and if you didn’t notice that some of the men in the room wore green slacks, you might forget that many of the day’s guests and participants were incarcerated.
“I’ve never been a part of, like, a film festival. I’ve never really seen it, didn’t really think, you know, it was possible for people who grew up how we grow up,” said Michael Hoffler, who’s incarcerated at Sing Sing and served on the festival jury along with four other men, also incarcerated.
The five documentaries selected to play at the festival all dealt in some way with the criminal justice system — a system the jury knew well. The program was spearheaded by The Marshall Project, a nonprofit criminal justice newsroom that enlisted a filmmaker to train the men on how to judge technical aspects like storytelling and cinematography. And the men were encouraged to use their experiences with the criminal justice system to evaluate the films’ authenticity.
“We wanted to give those incarcerated people the opportunity to use their lived experience in a positive way in order to vet and view these films. To say, ‘Hey, this is authentic or this isn’t,'” said Lawrence Bartley, a driving force behind the event and a person who had previously been incarcerated at Sing Sing. After his release in 2018, he joined The Marshall Project, where he creates print and video journalism.
Bartley hoped the Sing Sing Film Festival would spotlight the thoughts and feelings of those society tends to undervalue.
“They’re human beings. They’re human beings with hopes and dreams and wants, just like everyone else,” he said.
That humanity shone through in the films as well. Like in For Our Children from 2022, which centers women seeking justice for their sons who had been victims of police brutality. Alex Aguilar, an alternate juror, said the film brought him back to his childhood in Long Island, N.Y.
“I really grew up thinking it was normal for police to pick you up, take you out of your car, search your car if they wanted to. They could beat you up,” he said.
And 2024’s Daughters — a film that follows the lives of four young girls as they prepared for a father-daughter dance at a prison in Washington, D.C. — reminded Hoffler of the relationship he has with his own children.
“Being incarcerated doesn’t absolve us of our responsibility as a parent. We did what we did, but we still have a responsibility to help raise these children that we left,” Hoffler said.
For Jonathan Mills — at 61 the oldest of the jurors — watching the films and discussing them with the other men was therapeutic.
“It’s a little bit healing, and it helped me develop my better social skills,” he said.
The Sing Sing festival was inspired by the first-ever film festival for incarcerated men held at California’s San Quentin state prison in early October.
“What these programs do — they’re an excuse for proximity. They’re bringing people from different worlds together,” said Rahsaan Thomas, who co-founded the San Quentin festival, and is known for co-hosting the award-winning podcast Ear Hustle about life in prison.
That proximity was on full display as guests, jurors and other incarcerated men mingled for hours before the actual program began. All attendees had to relinquish their phones. Without a watch, your only sense of time passing came from the changing light peeking through the stained glass windows.
That proximity also allowed for unexpected interactions even during the program, like when one incarcerated man stood up to direct a question about prison resources to Daniel Martuscello, the commissioner of New York state’s Department of Corrections. Martuscello stepped up to a mic and responded.
“We got to figure out the staffing thing because without that, we can’t do all the things that we do,” he said. “There’s a lot of ideas out there, and I wouldn’t say no, on first blush, to any of the ideas that are out there.”
More than 17% of staff positions at Sing Sing are currently vacant, according to data from the Correctional Association of New York.
The Sing Sing festival program also featured the screening of three short films, and concluded with a Q&A between the five jurors and Mindy Goldberg, a producer of Daughters, and Contessa Gayles, director of Songs from the Hole. The latter film, about an incarcerated musician processing his brother’s death as well as his own past, took the festival’s top prize. Speaking after the program, Gayles said she made the film for the incarcerated.
“Every time that we’ve had a film festival screening on the outside, we’ve made sure whatever city we’re in that we’re going to also bring the film into a prison,” she said. “And to have the jury here be all comprised of incarcerated people, and for them to honor us with the award means everything.”
Kiki Weston, who along with Lawrence Bartley helped organize the event, hopes this festival is the first of many at Sing Sing, and beyond.
“I would love to have this in every state,” she said. “I would love to have it at one of our women’s facilities just to give women access to this type of stuff. So I would love for it to be everywhere. And I think it’s not too far. Like it’s not too far-fetched to dream that big. I just think it can happen.”
Transcript:
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Sing Sing is a maximum security prison north of New York City. It hosted its very first film festival last week with the help of the Marshall Project. A jury of incarcerated men weighed the merits of a variety of criminal justice documentaries and picked a winner. NPR’s Marc Rivers was there.
MARC RIVERS, BYLINE: Corrections officials brought festival guests through several layers of security and into the campus’ chapel, which that day served as a meet and greet area. Like any film festival, there were photo ops, lots of people wearing name tags talking excitedly and a table laden with refreshments. And if you didn’t notice who was wearing green slacks, you might forget that some of those guests and participants were also incarcerated.
MICHAEL HOFFLER: I’ve never been a part of, like, a film festival. I’ve never really seen it, didn’t really think, you know, it was possible for people who grew up how we grow up.
RIVERS: That’s Michael Hoffler. He’s incarcerated at Sing Sing, and this was a big day for him. He served on the jury, along with four other men.
HOFFLER: We don’t even know how our names got thrown in it, but we just received callouts, and they said, all right, y’all have been chosen to participate.
RIVERS: Could you have declined? Could you have said no?
HOFFLER: Yeah. No, you could have declined.
RIVERS: OK.
HOFFLER: But it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
RIVERS: That experience came to life largely through the efforts of the Marshall Project. They brought in a filmmaker to train the men on how to judge technical aspects like storytelling and cinematography, and the men were encouraged to use their experiences with the criminal justice system to evaluate the film’s authenticity.
LAWRENCE BARTLEY: Their words, their thoughts have value, and it has weight, and I’m glad to be able to help bring that to the world.
RIVERS: Lawrence Bartley was a driving force behind the event. Bartley himself had been incarcerated at Sing Sing. After his release in 2018, he joined the Marshall Project, where he creates print and video journalism. He said the Sing Sing Film Festival shines a light on the thoughts and feelings of people society tends to undervalue.
BARTLEY: They’re human beings. They’re human beings with hopes and dreams and wants, just like everyone else.
RIVERS: One of the selected documentaries was “For Our Children,” which centers women seeking justice for their sons who had been victims of police brutality.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, “FOR OUR CHILDREN”)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: It’s a call the action for all mothers to come together.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: We laugh. We cry. We’re going to continue to fight.
RIVERS: Sitting in Sing Sing’s auditorium, Alex Aguilar, an alternate juror, said the film made him think about his childhood.
ALEX AGUILAR: Like, I really grew up thinking, like, it was normal for police pick you up, take you out your car, search your car if they wanted to. They could beat you up. People don’t realize how that just makes you angry because you realize, like, you’ve gone through that.
RIVERS: “Daughters,” another of the documentaries, follows the lives of four young girls as they prepare for a father-daughter dance at a D.C. prison.
(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, “DAUGHTERS”)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: These girls just needed a way to invite their fathers into their lives on their own terms.
RIVERS: Watching the film, Michael Hoffler thought of his own children.
HOFFLER: Being incarcerated don’t absolve us of our responsibility as a parent. We did what we did, but we still have a responsibility to help raise these children that we left.
RIVERS: And for Jonathan Mills, at 61, the oldest of the jurors, his experience watching the films and discussing them with the other men showed him he still had room to grow, if only given the space.
JONATHAN MILLS: For me, it’s therapeutic, and it’s a little bit healing, and it helped me develop my better social skills. You know what I mean? – because I’m, you know – I keep to myself. You know what I mean? If I don’t really actually know you…
RIVERS: I’d notice charisma, though.
MILLS: And I realize that now.
RIVERS: The Sing Sing festival was inspired by the first-ever film festival for incarcerated men held at San Quentin State Prison earlier this month. Rahsaan Thomas, known for co-hosting the award-winning podcast “Ear Hustle,” co-founded the San Quentin festival.
RAHSAAN THOMAS: What these programs do – they’re excuse for proximity. They’re bringing people from different worlds together.
RIVERS: At Sing Sing, festival planners leaned into that proximity, giving guests, jurors and other incarcerated men hours to mingle before the official program began. And during the program, some of those men took the chance to address top prison officials.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: I think my question really is more for Commissioner Martuscello.
RIVERS: That’s one of the incarcerated men at Sing Sing, and he’s directing his question about resources directly to Daniel Martuscello, the commissioner of New York state’s Corrections Department. Martuscello stepped up to a mike and responded.
DANIEL MARTUSCELLO: We got to figure out the staffing thing because without that, we can’t do all the things that we do. There’s a lot of ideas out there, and I would say no, on first blush, to any of the ideas that are out there.
RIVERS: Finally, the big moment arrived. Lawrence Bartley did the honors.
BARTLEY: The most relevant and the most deserving of the first-ever Sing Sing Film Festival Award. Are y’all ready?
RIVERS: Contessa Gayles’ film “Songs From The Hole” received the top prize from the jury. She said her film about an incarcerated musician processing his brother’s death, as well as his own past, belongs to the men of Sing Sing.
CONTESSA GAYLES: Every time that we’ve had a film festival screening on the outside, we’ve made sure whatever city we’re in that we’re going to also bring the film into a prison. And to have the jury here be all comprised of incarcerated people and for them to, you know, honor us with the award means everything.
RIVERS: Juror Alonzo Miles says although “Songs From The Hole” took the top prize, all the films provided equally vital portraits of a system that he knows well, but doesn’t define him.
ALONZO MILES: These types of films are very important. There’s no loser here today when it comes to these films. All of these films are winners when you look at them and understand them.
RIVERS: And as the day’s events showed, a little understanding can go a long way. Marc Rivers, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
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