SQFF24 Founders and Co-Directors are award-winning playwright, screenwriter and author Cori Thomas (Lockdown, When January Feels Like Summer), and (no relation) formerly incarcerated filmmaker, podcaster and writer Rahsaan “New York” Thomas (Friendly Signs, What These Walls Won’t Hold). Co-Producers are recently released filmmaker Brian Asey Gonsoulin (Friendly Signs) and former studio and nonprofit exec Katherine Moore. SQ Festival Coordinator is Skyler Brown and Inside Festival Coordinators are Harold Meeks, Kevin Sawyer, and Marcus Henderson. Festival Brand and Logo Design is by Salvador Joaquin. SQ Liaison is Lonnie Morris, SQFF24 Consultant is Retired CDCR Captain (a) Sam Robinson, and San Quentin Public Information Officer is Lt. Guim’Mara Berry.
The San Quentin Film Festival is supported by Tribeca Festival, Empowerment Avenue, Pollen Initiative, and a growing list of donors and sponsors.
To learn more about how you can get involved click here.
(L-R) San Quentin Media Center Alumni Rahsaan “New York” Thomas, Adamu Chan and Brian Asey Gonsoulin.
The inaugural SAN QUENTIN FILM FESTIVAL (SQFF24) celebrating the work of current and formerly incarcerated filmmakers, will take place at the prison on Thursday, October 10, 2024. SQFF24 is designed to introduce the work of system-impacted filmmakers to entertainment industry artists and executives, showcase emerging talent and potential, and enable access to equal opportunities.
The Festival will include a Narrative and Documentary Short Film Competition, with winners selected by an Industry Jury. An Inside Jury of incarcerated people will judge a curated selection of Narrative and Documentary Features about the prison experience made by filmmakers who have never served prison time
Friendly Signs was selected for the 2023 San Francisco Documentary Film Festival, and in 2024, was an official selection at the Atlanta Film Festival, Bravemakers, Double Exposure (DX Fest) and the Superfest Disability Film Festival, where it won the Advocacy Award. The film will be recognized on September 24th at the System Impact Short Film Program presented by The Berkeley Film Foundation, highlighting films that are transforming the justice system. Two of the other shorts being screened at the event include films by other Media Center alumni: Finding Ma, directed by Thanh Tran and The Bridge Between Two Worlds, directed by Antwan Banks Williams. Thanh was a member of the production team on Friendly Signs while he was incarcerated and the music for the film was composed by former San Quentin residents Antwan Banks Williams, Eric “Maserati-E” Abercrombie and Eric “Phil” Phillips. Friendly Signs was supported by grants from the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program, The Marshall Project and The Berkeley Film Foundation.
Stories that impact.
“The SQFF represents a groundbreaking event in the context of rehabilitative programming and the integration of the arts within the prison system. This approach not only highlights the creative talents within prison populations, but also integrates these individuals into broader cinematic and cultural dialogues. It represents a pioneering effort in this space.”
-Nancy Lefkowitz
EVP, Tribeca Enterprises
