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Netflix
“On the day I was born Black, I was also born a homosexual,” Colman Domingo says in character as gay civil rights icon Bayard Rustin in the teaser trailer for Netflix’s upcoming biopic Rustin.
The film follows Rustin as he leads civil rights activists in organizing the historic March on Washington, which celebrated its 60th anniversary over the weekend. It explores the difficulties Rustin had in the civil rights movement itself for being an out gay man.
Rustin is directed by Tony Award-winning director George C. Wolfe (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom).
“[Rustin] is a role model for what it means to be an American, what it means to daily, moment-to-moment, commit to democracy, commit to freedom, commit to possibility, commit to discovery, commit to passing on that which you know to other people,” Wolfe told Netflix in an interview in 2022. “Democracy is a muscle, and if you don't exercise it regularly, it ceases to function.”
“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,” a description from Netflix reads.
Rustin is produced by Academy Award winner Bruce Cohen, Higher Ground's Tonia Davis and Wolfe, the film features an all-star cast including Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Aml Ameen, Gus Halper, CCH Pounder, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Johnny Ramey, Michael Potts, with Jeffrey Wright and Audra McDonald.
Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black wrote the screenplay based on a story by Julian Breece. Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama serve as executive producers on the film as well as Mark R. Wright, Alex G. Scott, David Permut, Daniel Sladek, and Chris Taaffe.
Rustin premieres on Netflix on November 17. Before then, the film will hit select theaters on November 3.
Check out the teaser trailer and images from the film below.
