In a stuffy church in San Quentin on Thursday afternoon, a filmmaker named B. Raheem Ballard received a standing ovation that could not be matched by any standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival or the Sundance Film Festival. Comparable.
That morning, Ballard, who had been in prison for 22 years on robbery and murder charges, missed the world premiere of the film he directed. die aloneand a follow-up Q&A with comedian W. Kamau Bell as the incident conflicts with his parole board hearing.
“Very quick update,” Juan Moreno Haines, one of the festival’s two hosts, interrupted the afternoon ceremony. “Raheem was found to be a good fit.” Ballard, who had just learned he would soon be released from prison and was sentenced to 2039, blinked into the raucous crowd at the church. “I’m overwhelmed,” he said. Soon after, Ballard’s film won an award from the International Documentary Association, but he had already left, calling his family to break the news of the day.
About 300 people, including American novel Directed by Cord Jefferson, Sing Director Greg Cuidal, just mercy Produced by Scott Badnick, examine Director Elegance Bratton and Executive Producer of PBS point of view The series “Erika Dilday” gathered at Church B for the San Quentin Film Festival. The first-ever film festival held inside a prison, the event took place on October 10 and 11 at the Bay Area’s largest correctional facility and screened films from Oscar contenders such as A24 Sing and Netflix daughteralongside films made by current and formerly incarcerated filmmakers. Sitting next to industry figures in the audience were men like Ballard, who is currently incarcerated in San Quentin, wearing blue California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation uniforms.
Just two months ago, inside the razor wire and under the windows of California’s death row, mornings began with a repetitive red carpet in the courtyard, where the prison band played, and coffee and pastries.
“I was very anxious,” says Louis Sale, whose 10-minute film Healing through hulawhich will premiere that morning. “I’m interested to see how the reaction to this story is going to be.” By the afternoon, Sayre, a 15-year Hawaii veteran, won best documentary short for his film about a family’s unlikely practice inside San Quentin. Hula Club Story. In remarks to the audience, Sale dedicated his film to the Hawaiian culture he abandoned at age 14 “because I thought I was too cool,” and to Vivaldo, the man he killed while driving drunk in 2016 ·Vivaldo Veloso.
The event was hosted by playwright and San Quentin volunteer Cori Thomas and co-host and producer of the award-winning film Rahsaan “New York” Thomas (no relation) Conceive Ears noisy Podcast, released in 2023 from San Quentin.
Throughout the day, there were signs that this wasn’t your typical film festival. Chance Andres, the warden at San Quentin, gave opening remarks, praising the “good atmosphere” as guards in green uniforms looked on. The midday meal consisted of abalone sandwiches and pretzels: “We didn’t fund everything we wanted, so you all had a state dinner,” Rahsaan said. There was a brief blackout due to so many fans running around the church, and no one was allowed to bring their phones into the jail, making it a rare 2024 movie event where everyone seemed to be watching the same screen at the front of the room. During filmmakers panel, an incarcerated director asked if anyone from TBS show Tracy Morgan The last OG In the audience – no, but he’s checking because he doesn’t want to offend when he describes this show about ex-cons as untrue. “The writers of these types of shows, we’re here,” he said. “Stop guessing, call me,” declared Anthony Gomez, a participant in Forward This, a film and television production training program in San Quentin, as he presented one of the day’s awards. “I don’t know about you, but Today I feel free.”
For the members of the Hollywood community in attendance, the event was a refreshing break from the norm. “This is one of the best days of my life,” Jefferson said. Kwedar, currently working with Singsaid the process “can easily consume your view of success.” But sitting in the church at San Quentin, “I felt restored. I just felt more alive.”
During the screening tonight SingThe film, which stars Colman Domingo and Paul Raci alongside a group of formerly incarcerated men, had viewers reacting to key moments and lines, snapping their fingers, leaning forward in their seats and saying “That’s Right” and “Preachy” unfold like a movie about an arts program set in Sing Sing maximum security prison.
At 7:55 p.m., while the post-screening Q&A was still going on, Haynes paused the meeting and said, “You know what time it is. Don’t miss the count,” reminding anyone in the audience who was identified as being under “heavy supervision.” People, those under stricter supervision, return to their cells.
“We represent all of you,” Clarence “The Eye” Maclin, who worked on “Sing Sing” and plays a version of himself in the film, said during the Q&A. “Thank you for the inspiration.”
