SING SING THANKSGIVING (1973) – Incredible Rarely Screened Concert Film!

On November 27th, join us for a rarely seen and even more rarely screened film that belongs on any double bill with the other Thanksgiving concert classic, THE LAST WALTZ – renowned documentarian David Hoffman’s SING SING THANKSGIVING (1973)! Filmed behind the walls of New York’s notorious Ossining Correctional Facility maximum security Pr*son in 1972, the Thanksgiving Day concert featured an incredible bill that included Joan Baez (joined by sister Mimi Fariña), The Voices of East Harlem, emcee Jimmie Walker, and the great B.B. King in what he himself described as his greatest ever performance – performing for a huge crowd of 1,200 enthralled inmates.

Hoffman and his filmmaking partner, Harry Wiland – residents of Ossining – already had a relationship with Sing Sing’s warden when they approached him in 1972 about producing and filming the concert as a way for the inmates to celebrate the holiday. Deeply affected by the tragic Attica Pr*son rebellion the year before that left 33 inmates dead, Hoffman and Wiland had already been teaching filmmaking to the Pr*son’s convicts. Inspired by Johnny Cash’s legendary Folsom Pr*son show (which Wiland was instrumental in organizing) and the recent popularity of concert films like WOODSTOCK, their class of 50 inmate filmmakers decided that filming a concert documentary right there within the Pr*son would be a great project. A team of inmates worked tirelessly for a year to organize the concert, lining up B.B King – who agreed to bring his 26-piece band and perform for free, Joan Baez, and The Voices of East Harlem.

What resulted was a one-of-a-kind show, with a stirring set by Baez (whose husband, activist David Harris, had been incarcerated for civil disobedience) featuring a standout and apropos rendition of Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” to a mesmerized crowd who, though largely unfamiliar with folk music, offered thunderous applause, as well as a performance of “Viva mi patria Bolivia” with her younger sister Mimi Fariña. Fariña was so moved by the experience that she established the Bread & Roses arts non-profit, which continues to bring music to marginalized, disadvantaged, and diverse institutional settings to this day. The electrifying Voices of East Harlem kick things off with a rousing, high-energy set that gets everyone on their feet and comedian Jimmie Walker (best known as J.J. “Dy-No-Mite!” Evans on Good Times) hilariously emcees the proceedings. But it’s B.B. King’s set that steals the show (especially an epic performance of “How Blue Can You Get?) and stirs the crowd into a jubilant frenzy. Alongside the concert footage, Hoffman captured remarkably candid and affecting interviews with inmates – reflecting on their lives, crimes, and work within the Pr*son – and rare documentation of daily life within the walls of the correctional facility.

Unlike any other concert film before or since, join us on the night before Thanksgiving and grab your chance to see the singular SING SING THANKSGIVING large and loud on the big screen!

Dir. David Hoffman, 1973, 78 mins, USA, Unrated, English, Color, Digital.

Special thanks to David Hoffman

Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

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Host or Publisher The Philosophical Research Society