Sing Sing (cert 15). Doors at 7.00pm, film at 7.30pm.

Welcome to Oakwood Cinema - the independent community cinema for Oakwood and Roundhay in Leeds!  Oakwood Cinema is a not-for-profit community cinema showing a film each month (with an interval), with a licensed bar and snacks to make the night an enjoyable social event for all!

THE FILM

Our film for July is Sing Sing (cert 15).

Sing Sing is set in an American prison (Sing Sing, in New York State), where the inmates are allowed to access a progressive and inspiring theatre programme which enables them to write, direct and perform dramas and musicals. It is based on a real life programme called Rehabilitation Through the Arts, and remarkably many of the actors in this film are ‘real life’ inmates or former inmates. The lead role is taken by (actual Hollywood actor) Colman Domingo who plays John “Divine G” Whitfield, who was the driving force behind the programme and a prolific writer. His Oscar nominated performance is nuanced and moving.

Sing Sing uses its cast members well, and it feels like a genuine ensemble piece as we see how the inmates struggle with their incarceration whilst also trying to remain positive and open for their theatrical endeavours. A key story arc features Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin (who plays himself), starting off as an aggressive and difficult inmate but who is able to find a way to express himself with the help of a famous Hamlet soliloquy.  Directed by Greg Kwedar, Sing Sing manages to tell a powerful story with grace and a beguiling gentleness.

Empire magazine wrote: “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.”

Sing Sing is 1 hours 47 minutes long, plus an interval. 

TICKETS

Tickets are just £6.50 for everyone.  

A booking fee is applied to cover the bank processing fee for purchasing online tickets.

The main doors open at 7.00pm.  The film starts at 7.30pm. (Interval drinks are available.)