On Monday night, HBO hosted a screening and reception for the documentary An Omar Broadway Film, which premieres on the channel this week. The film, directed by Doug Tirola and Omar Broadway, is the story of an inmate in Newark’s Northern State Prison, who smuggles a video camera into his cell. With this new tool, audiences are shown a glimpse at the abuse brought upon by correctional officers within the prison. It’s a tough, but thought-provoking, portrait of prison life as well as a portrait of a man driven by a need to share his story from behind bars.
(Co-director Doug Tirola introduces the film, from the HBO screening room in Manhattan.)
(Omar Broadway’s mother, Lynne, read a letter from Omar before the screening. Omar is now serving his sentence in a Maryland prison. In his letter, he thanked the production team as well as HBO and the Tribeca Film Festival, where the documentary premiered in 2008.)
(At the film’s 40/40 Club after-party, An Omar Broadway Film editor and co-producer Robert Greene, left, with cinematographer Sean Price Williams, who did some camera work on the doc. Robert is also the director of the documentary, Owning The Weather, which is now on Netflix streaming. His latest documentary, Kati with an I, premiered at the True/False Festival this year. Sean helped shoot Kati with an I, and also served as the cinematographer on Frownland, Yeast, and Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo.)
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