Film follows inmate actors in Jesus play at Angola prison<\/strong><\/h2>\nIn \u201cThe Life of Jesus Christ,\u201d a play starring Louisiana inmates, convicted murder Sandra Starr portrays the woman caught in adultery \u2014 a sinner publicly humiliated and threatened with execution, until Jesus tells her accusers, \u201cLet him who has no sin cast the first stone.\u201d<\/p>\n
In \u201cCast the First Stone,\u201d a new 93-minute documentary that goes behind the scenes of the making of the play, a clip from a rehearsal of the scene where Starr is thrown at the feet of Jesus, is followed by an interview where she describes her life of abuse, of pulling a trigger, of killing her boyfriend.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll my life I was rejected,\u201d says the 41-year-old inmate in the 18th year of a life-without-parole sentence for second-degree murder. \u201cI didn\u2019t have any hope.\u201d<\/p>\n
The film, by Jonathan Stack, Nicolas Cuellar and David B. Deniger, of Higher Common Denominator Media Group, tells stories of hope that emerged as a cast of 55 male actor\/inmates from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and 20 female actor\/inmates from the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women at St. Gabriel rehearsed and performed the play for the first time in 2012.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the same person I was when I came in here,\u201d Starr said. \u201cI was my own god, and I didn\u2019t know God.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I know who God is and I trust him,\u201d she said with a big smile. \u201cMy mission now is to share him with other people. I want everybody to feel this happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Higher Common Denominator Media Group has not finalized distribution plans, filmmaker Stack said he hopes the film will catch on in the Christian community in a grass-roots sort of way, similar to the way the \u201cCourageous\u201d and \u201cFireproof\u201d movies have.<\/p>\n
Cindy Mann, executive director of the Louisiana Prison Chapel Foundation, a \u201cLife of Jesus Christ\u201d sponsor, said she and Angola Assistant Warden Cathy Fontenot are planning to show the documentary at the state\u2019s other prisons and as well as in churches and similar venues in the coming months.<\/p>\n
The film was first screened privately March 27 for the Angola actors-inmates and premiered publicly on March 28 at LCIW for more than 200 visitors and LCIW actors-inmates and officials.<\/p>\n
During the screening, film-makers Stack and Deniger sat among the women in the audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is never more powerful than when you show it to the people who it means the most to,\u201d Stack said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we chose the first screening here \u2014 not in New York or at a film festival.\u201d<\/p>\n
Serey Kong, who plays the young Virgin Mary, was amazed at the screening.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time in a long time they portrayed us as humans \u2014 behind the numbers, behind the statistics,\u201d Kong said with a big smile. \u201cIt gave me hope and inspiration to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
The documentary intersperses clips of play-practice filmed in April and May 2012 at various locations around the Angola prison grounds with testimonials from actors and scenes from the actual play as performed in May 2012 in the Angola multipurpose arena before a large audience.<\/p>\n
Born in Cambodia and brought to New Orleans as a baby, Kong is in the last few months of an 11-year sentence for armed robbery \u2014 she was the getaway driver \u2014 and expects to be deported upon release. Like Starr, she said she became a Christian in prison.<\/p>\n
In the documentary, Kong, 33, pulls from her footlocker a photo album of her family. One photo shows her 14 year-old daughter, \u201cShe hates everyone \u2014 including me \u2014 but I understand that,\u201d she said, and a son, 10, and their father.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy last baby, I had him in jail. He was two days old the last time I saw him,\u201d Kong said, tears welling up in her brown eyes. \u201cHe\u2019s 10 now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Older Mary is portrayed by Patricia Williams, 52, of Shreveport, who is serving a 10-year sentence for embezzlement. During the first practice of the Pieta scene, where Roman soldiers take the dead Jesus down from the cross and she cradles him in her arms, she actually wept because she so badly missed her son serving overseas.<\/p>\n
Her sorrow was also expressed in the performances, said Bobby Wallace, who portrays Jesus. \u201cI\u2019m lying there with my eyes closed and I could feel her crying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In the documentary, Williams cracks up her female friends when she tells them about seeing Wallace in his loincloth,<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they put him on the cross and he had very little on, it was like, \u2018Oh my God!\u2019 \u201d she said as the other women laugh. \u201cI\u2019ve not seen a man with not much on for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cherie Perez portrays a She Devil tempting Jesus in the wilderness. In the documentary, she relates how someone told her, \u201cGirl you look like you had a lot of practice at that,\u2019 and later, when I was in my room I realized, \u2018Yeh, I do,\u201d Perez said. \u201cSo for me to overcome it and be who I am today, I\u2019m letting go of my past when he refuses me.\u201d<\/p>\n
In emotional remarks following the screening, Perez thanked LCIW Warden Jim Rogers, Angola Warden Burl Cain and Fontenot, \u201cfor believing in us and trusting us enough to do something for our Lord, and praising us for it and making us feel like we are somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fontenot, who first had the idea for the play after visiting Dundas Castle in Scotland where it was performed several years ago, was also pleased with the documentary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis shows people can change and our attitudes can change,\u201d she said. \u201cRehabilitation is not just about them. It is also about re-educating the public and reassuring the public that we are all concerned about having justice work for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rogers said he was at first apprehensive about allowing female offenders to go to Angola and mingle with the men, but now he\u2019s behind the program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think (the play) has the possibility of changing some aspects of the prison, because a lot of women have seen what it means to those participating and they want to be a part of it and that\u2019s a good thing,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cIt also shows people at home that some of these people have changed a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cJesus\u201d of the play, Wallace, 44, was once a New Orleans gang leader who is serving a 20-year armed robbery sentence since 1996. He became a Christian in prison, will graduate from the Baptist seminary program in May and may be paroled this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome guys were transformed, because of this play,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cTo actually see something positive they were a part of \u2014 they were blown away.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
More\u00a0Information:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nA prison passion play<\/p>\n
Warden Burl Cain, of the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, said \u201cThe Life of Jesus Christ\u201d is the only publicly performed theatrical production in America featuring male and female prison inmates.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s four-hour performances, directed by Angola inmate Gary Tyler, were offered several times the week before Easter before more than 1,000 visitors and Angola inmates. The play will be performed again Nov. 16-17.<\/p>\n
For more information on \u201cCast the First Stone,\u201d a film about the making of the play in 2012, and to see a trailer, visit Higher Common Denominator Media Group\u2019s website at http:\/\/www.hcdmediagroup.com<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Casting \u2018The First Stone\u2019 | Faith | The Advocate \u2014 Baton Rouge, LA. Film follows inmate actors in Jesus play at Angola prison In \u201cThe Life of Jesus Christ,\u201d a play starring Louisiana inmates, convicted murder Sandra Starr portrays the woman caught in adultery \u2014 a sinner publicly humiliated and threatened with execution, until Jesus […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3my8A-d7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/castthefirststone-themovie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/castthefirststone-themovie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/castthefirststone-themovie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/castthefirststone-themovie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/castthefirststone-themovie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=813"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/castthefirststone-themovie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":815,"href":"https:\/\/castthefirststone-themovie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/813\/revisions\/815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/castthefirststone-themovie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/castthefirststone-themovie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/castthefirststone-themovie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}