Colman Domingo could be in line for his first Oscar nomination for his performance as civil rights leader and March On Washington organizer Bayard Rustin in Netflix’s biopic, Rustin. And now we can look at Domingo as the titular activist in a brand new trailer. Rustin was a key figure in the civil rights movement and helped organize the March on Washington. His struggles ran deep, living life as an openly gay Black man in the 1960s. Not that it ever stopped him from championing what he believed in.
The film is directed by George C. Wolfe, who most recently was at the helm of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom which also included Domingo. Barack and Michelle Obama produce through their High Ground Productions banner, with a screenplay co-written by Milk writer Dustin Lance Black. Domingo is surrounded by an incredible ensemble that includes Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Aml Ameen, Gus Halper, CCH Pounder, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Johnny Ramey, Michael Potts, Lilli Kay, Jordan-Amanda Hall, Jakeem Powell, Grantham Coleman, Jamilah Rosemond, Jules Latimer, Maxwell Whittington-Cooper, Frank Harts, Kevin Mambo, Carra Patterson, Bill Irwin, Cotter Smith, Adrienne Warren, Jeffrey Wright, and Audra McDonald.
Here’s the synopsis: The architect of 1963’s momentous March on Washington, Bayard Rustin was one of the greatest activists and organizers the world has ever known. He challenged authority, never apologized for who he was, what he believed, or who he desired. And he did not back down. He made history, and in turn, he was forgotten. Directed by DGA Award and five-time Tony Award winner George C. Wolfe and starring Emmy Award winner Colman Domingo, Rustin shines a long overdue spotlight on the extraordinary man who, alongside giants like the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and Ella Baker, dared to imagine a different world, and inspired a movement in a march toward freedom.
Rustin opens in select theaters on November 3rd, followed by Netflix on November 17th.
