A Hollywood Film Festival Inside of San Quentin

California is home to the most influential film industry on the planet. It’s also home to one of the world’s most overcrowded prison systems. On October 10 and 11, these two worlds will converge for the San Quentin Film Festival, the first-ever film festival held inside of a U.S. prison.

Cofounded by filmmaker and journalist Rahsaan “New York” Thomas, the San Quentin Film Festival will host film screenings and pitch discussions over the course of two days inside the confines of California’s oldest functioning prison. Festival categories include Best Short Narrative Film, Best Short Documentary Film, Best Film About System Impacted People, and The Outside About Inside Award.

While the work of people who are currently and formerly incarcerated is the central focus of this cinematic event, Thomas is extremely clear: “This is not a prison film festival,” he says. “This is a film festival happening inside of a prison.”

The difference is evidenced by the list of people involved, which includes Hollywood stars Mary-Louise Parker, Billy Crudup and Jeffrey Wright — three of the event’s twenty judges. They’ll be joined by the likes of comedic social critic W. Kamau Bell, and Greg Kwedar, director of the highly acclaimed prison-based film Sing Sing.

Thomas, whose work with the award-winning podcast Ear Hustle has gained him international acclaim, says the goal is to ensure that talented filmmakers who’ve served time get exposure and employment opportunities, in addition to shifting the ways people in prison are depicted in film.

There’s also a potential to change people’s understanding of crime and its root causes. According to Thomas, it all revolves around the nuanced idea of exclusion.

“When you make a person feel like they’re not part of society, well, they get a ‘F-the world’ tattoo, and they find that love and acceptance from a gang,” says Thomas, adding that poverty plays a significant role too.

“If you don’t provide an opportunity for people to advance upward, and you put more obstacles than opportunities in a community, you get crime. So this festival is about creating more opportunities, so we can have public safety without bullets and handcuffs.”

Thomas, the director of the short film Friendly Signs and co-producer of the award-winning film What These Walls Won’t Hold, says he first dreamed of launching this film festival while he was serving time in San Quentin. “Now that it’s real, it’s a little scary,” Thomas admits. “It’s going to be bigger than my wildest dreams, bigger than anything I’ve seen done. And I’ve got to do it right.”

The key to “doing it right” is a matter of proximity. Because so much of prison is about literal exclusion — removing people from the general population as a form of punishment — Thomas’ goal is the opposite: to create a platform of inclusion.

“What I’m looking to happen, organically, is 125 people coming in from the street, and they’re going to mingle with 200 people from the prison population,” says Thomas. “And we’re going to let proximity do what it do.”

Bringing people together will cause one level of social interaction, and possibly even small societal change. But sharing moving stories is an added layer to the shift Thomas is striving for.

“Hollywood is a key way to change the way we think of people,” says Thomas, adding that there’s a need for insight into the lived experiences of people of all backgrounds. This film festival, he says, is an example of the necessary cohesion between two of this state’s biggest institutions.

“People need to stop making stories about us,” says Thomas, “and start making stories with us.”

The San Quentin Film Festival takes place Oct. 10 and 11, 2024, inside San Quentin State Prison; details here. ‘What These Walls Won’t Hold’ airs on KQED Channel 9 on Friday, Aug. 9, at 8pm; details here.