Filmed at Firehouse, Engine Company 31, New York City, May 2018, and Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Ossining, NY, April 2015 

Music:
Larry Heard, Robert Owens and Cameron Holmes; Empress Of and Michael
Austin; Figure Skater and King Tolen; Nguzunguzu and Cinthia Candelaria;
Kyp Malone and Robert Pollock; MikeQ, Ian Isiah and Amanda Cruz;
L’Rain, Morgan Wiley and Patrick Gordon
Voiceover: Robert Owens
Camera: César Martinez, Adam Newport-Berra, Downtown Community Television Center, Phil Collins, Siniša Mitrović
Editor: Stefan Ramírez Pérez
Sound mix: Jochen Jezussek
Producer: Siniša Mitrović
Produced by Shady Lane Productions. Commissioned by Creative Time

Art and activism collide in this uplifting documentary, which examines the injustices of America’s prison-industrial complex on the one hand, and the power of house music as a catalyst for human connection, transformation and liberation on the other. Building on extended periods spent during previous years working with a group of men in Sing Sing maximum security prison, in 2018 Collins collaborated with Black, Latinx and queer artists, nightlife collectives, activists, and formerly incarcerated individuals to create a temporary civic space. Located in downtown Manhattan, the space served as a hub for prison-abolition organising, and a venue for exhilarating dance parties. Bring Down the Walls proposes a vision of social justice in which collective action and communal celebration are inextricably entwined.

Tickets for the program are available here.

• Programm Programme: Bring Down the Walls