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Feature Documentary

Songs From the Hole

Screenings
  • Closed captions online Closed Captioning
  • Open captions in-person Open Captions



Screenings


In-Person

At 15, he took a life. Three days later, his brother’s life was taken. A documentary visual album, Songs From the Hole follows James “JJ ’88” Jacobs through a musical opus of hip hop and soul, inspired by his innermost struggles as a person who has both committed and experienced violent harm, as he serves a double-life prison sentence. The film interweaves the collective storytelling of its nonfiction participants with imagined representations of memories, dreams and spiritual dialogues set to its protagonist/co-creator’s original music.

Thank you to our screening partner: Black Lives Matter Philly






Directors Spotlight



A picture of a woman named Contessa Gayles seated against a black backdrop. She wears a fully black outfit consisting of a beret and turtleneck, barely visible against the dark background. Her long, small, braided hair falls over her shoulders as she holds a calm, contemplative expression gazing slightly upwards and to the side. Her bold red lipstick stands out prominently against her dark attire, and her hands are clasped loosely in her lap.

Contessa Gayles

Director

CONTESSA GAYLES – Director, Producer, Director of Photography, Editor, Writer Contessa is a non-fiction director, DP, editor and Emmy-nominated producer. She tells stories about identity, socio-political movement, healing, Black liberation and radical imagination. Contessa’s feature-length documentary visual album, SONGS FROM THE HOLE, world premiered at SXSW 2024, where it won the Visions Audience Award. Her work has been supported by Impact Partners, Field of Vision, Open Society Foundation and the IDA. She is a former Firelight Media, Chicken & Egg Pictures and Soros Media Justice Fellow. Other directorial credits include THE FEMINIST ON CELLBLOCK Y (CNN, 2018) and DEBUTANTES (Tribeca premiere, 2024).







  • Runtime 106 minutes
  • Country United States
  • Language English
  • Director Contessa Gayles
  • Cast James “JJ’88” Jacobs, Victor Benjamin, William Jacobs Jr., Janine Jacobs, Reneasha Jacobs, Jacqueline Williams, Naaji Pruitt, Lauren “Indigo Mateo” Jacobs
  • Cinematographer Michelle Kwong, Contessa Gayles
  • Editor Contessa Gayles, Rafe Scobey-Thal, Princess A. Hairston
  • Executive Producer Jenny Raskin, Lauren Haber, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Regina K. Scully, Meadow Fund, dream hampton
  • Producer Contessa Gayles, richie reseda, David Felix Sutcliffe
  • Screenwriter James “JJ’88” Jacobs, Contessa Gayles
  • Animator Javier Francisco Pretelt, Wilma Miranda
  • Co Producer James “JJ’88” Jacobs
  • Music richie reseda, Tairiq Bright, Garfield Bright, James “JJ’88” Jacobs
  • Premiere East Coast





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