They trained for a marathon inside prison walls. Now, they’re on the big screen in Sacramento
When Christine Yoo’s friend landed in prison with a life sentence — a wrongful conviction, she said — the filmmaker decided she wanted to make a movie about life inside prison. It was a topical leap for Yoo, whose past credits included a Korean American wedding comedy and an anime series.
She arrived at San Quentin State Prison to do research, sitting at the side of the yard as members of the prison’s running club embarked on a half marathon.
“It really caught me off guard. I don’t think I knew what to expect, but I certainly wasn’t expecting what I saw,” she said. “Essentially what I was watching was rehabilitation in action.”
She decided that day that she would make a documentary about the runners.
On Aug. 28, the Crest Theatre on K Street will host a free premiere screening of “26.2 to Life,” the culmination of three years of filming. The 90-minute movie, which starts at 5:30 p.m. that Monday, will be followed by a discussion led by the filmmaker, and coaches and runners from the 1000 Mile Club at San Quentin.
Interested attendees can reserve a free ticket on Eventbrite.
“I think that it will be a portrait of incarcerated life that people have not ever seen before,” said Yoo.
In attendance at the screening will be Markelle ‘the Gazelle’ Taylor, who qualified for the Boston Marathon in 2019 from inside San Quentin and is a main subject of the film. He and other released San Quentin runners will take part in the post-screening discussion.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg is co-hosting the screening alongside former state Sen. Mark Leno. Steinberg is a co-chair of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s San Quentin Rehabilitation Center Committee, which will release recommendations in December for how the state prison can transform its culture and operations to be a more rehabilitative space.
As for Yoo’s next project, she hopes to make a film about her formerly incarcerated friend that inspired it all. He was released from prison after serving 26 years thanks to California’s Elderly Parole Program, she said.
