Many have opined that Rustin has been neglected by history.
It will also screen September 12 atTIFFand is scheduled to be released in theaters on November 3.
It hits Netflix on November 17.
George C. Wolfe, Colman Domingo as Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin in Netflix film ‘Rustin’.JuankKR/Netflix
I think he did amazing things and had a huge impact.
The director cited the Rev.
Al Sharpton as a recipient of Rustins benevolence.
George C. Wolfe (Netflix)
Sharpton recently saw the film and noted how early on in his career he met with Rustin.
I think hes so really very fascinating in the way he affected so many people.
The man had a playful side too.
I mean, its another time.
It was a sense of grace, he said.
He went to visit the internment camps when the American Japanese were imprisoned during the war.
Shrugging, Wolfe observed that such actions were embedded in who he was.
its just how he was wired.
Its how he was raised.
There was such an incredible sense of grace and a sense of curiosity.
And Rustins curiosity will surprise people.
Wolfe laughed and said And hes from Westchester, Pennsylvania!
A sound system was installed because a sound system is how you turn a crowd into an audience.
It was a stroke of brilliance, said Wolfe.
Also a stroke of genius to cast Colman Domingo to portray the the great organizer.
Over time his name and his rhythms and his face started to appear more and more to me.
There was no audition.
It was just … inevitability emerged, and it was him.
Another weapon was image.
What the early 60s Civil Rights Movement understood brilliantly was image.
Absolutely, Wolfe agreed.
Its fashion as a weapon.
Its fashion as being a part of your arsenal, of human behavior and interactions.
Part of it was informed a little bit by knowing that there was judgment coming from the other side.
But the other part of it was just how you carried yourself.
He wasnt out in terms of 2023 out.
But in terms of 1963, he was a very out homosexual.
Wolfe recited one of the films great lines.
Its where Bayard says, Im trying to figure out how many toilets there needs to be.
Im trying to figure out how to get water there.
I dont have time to be ashamed.
But right now, I got to organize and to get at least a hundred thousand people to D.C.
So I dont have time for all of that.
Rustin did not have time to waste standing in a corner filled with shame.
He had work to do.
History remembers Martin Luther Kings I Have a Dream speech, but its pared down in the film.
Some have said that Bayard Rustin has been criminally unrecognized.
Yeah, yeah, said Wolfe, shaking his head.
I mean, thats history.
That is what history does.
History goes, Im going to notice you.
Im not going to notice you.
Im going to reward you.
History can be very, very brutal.
But thats what history does.
