The Bay Area’s newest film festival has a curious dress code.
“No blue, green, orange, gray or all-white clothing,” reads an email sent to attendees by an event organizer. White is allowed if combined with other colors, but all black is always safe, the instructions continue. Open-toed and open-backed shoes are not permitted.
Rules like that come with the territory when you’re planning the world’s first-ever film festival inside a prison.
The San Quentin Film Festival, taking place Oct. 10-11 at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, aims to help “system-impacted people to be seen, heard and felt,” says co-founder Rahsaan “New York” Thomas. A documentary filmmaker whose career began while he was incarcerated at San Quentin, Thomas directs the festival alongside his close friend, screenwriter Cori Thomas (no relation), whom he first met in 2016 when she visited the prison to conduct research and reporting for a podcast produced by Amazon’s Audible (the project was not released).