Oprah Winfrey gives actor Colman Domingo Montecito Award at Santa Barbara International Film Festival

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.— It was an emotional night at the Arlington Theater as Colman Domingo was moved to tears by a heartfelt tribute from the Film Festival’s Executive Director Roger Durling.

It’s taken decades for Domingo to be recognized for his exemplary body of work.

This year t’s his performance in “Sing Sing” that has left audiences speechless.

The film is based on the true story of a man imprisoned at sing sing correctional facility in New York for a crime he didn't commit.
 
When joined by an outsider, Colman Domingo’s character finds purpose by staging an original comedy with a theater group made up of other incarcerated men. 
 
The film shows how the arts play a vital role in rehabilitation. 

“ Filling a person up with that and giving them tools that they never even had or knew they had or that were like was buried in the in the basement of their mind and see what happens. And that's what rehabilitation is,” said Colman Domingo.

it also features an ensemble cast— many of which are played by former incarcerated men who have been through the program. 

“ It humanized and it gave a lot of good insight and perspective into things that happen behind those walls that we may not know about,” said Xposure Magazine Founder Goldyn P. Smith.

“They have families they have lives they have emotions and feelings and just because they’re incarcerated doesn’t mean that all goes away,” said UCSB Journalism Student Zuri Wilson.

“Sing Sing” is up for 3 Oscar nominations.