be still media: quarterly competition
The Prompt
The movie “Sing Sing” highlights the redemptive power of art. Through theater production, in endless preparation and rehearsals, working together, incarcerated men in New York’s Sing Sing prison receive the tools and grace to regain their humanity.
Light and breadth are cast into their darkness where crime and punishment, guilt and shame, rage and remorse are displaced in internal transformation long before they step in front of an audience.
As one of the inmates reminds his fellow prisoners before the curtain goes up, “Healing for this planet begins right here within the walls of Sing Sing.”
Actor Colman Domingo, who plays the main character, collaborated with a cast of mostly former prisoners – men who found a new sense of identity through the arts: Beloved.
Domingo is passionate about what it takes to bring about lasting rehabilitation. In a recent interview, he pleads, “What kind of world do we want to live in? What kind of tools do we want to give people to find the light, to be part of the world again?” He concludes: I know for sure that art saves lives.
As artists, how can we reflect on this, and respond and create?
We want the prompt to spark the imagination and not tell you what to do. If you need direction, consider these steps:
- Read (The prompt)
- Reflect (Take a walk, ponder, imagine)
- Respond (Engage. Create art that relates to the prompt)
The target audience, tone, and medium is up to you – We look forward to receiving your entry!