Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, and Audra McDonald are set to star in an upcoming biopic about gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, according to a report from Variety.
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The film, titled Rustin, will be the first narrative feature produced by Higher Ground, the production company started by Michelle and Barack Obama. George C. Wolfe will direct the film for Netflix, with a screenplay written by Wolfe and Dustin Lance Black, who also wrote Milk.
According to Variety, the film will focus on the variety of challenges that Rustin faced while organizing the famous 1963 March on Washington, which is where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the historic “I Have a Dream” speech. Chris Rock will play NAACP leader Wilkins, Turman will play March on Washington co-organizer A. Philip Randolph and McDonald will play civil rights icon Ella Baker.
The film will be produced by Priya Swaminathan and Tonia Davia for Higher Ground Productions along with Oscar winner Bruce Cohen.
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This project will be part of Higher Ground Productions’ first-look deal with Netflix which they’ve signed in 2018. The deal has previously produced two acclaimed documentary films: 2019’s American Factory which earned them their first Oscar win for Best Documentary Feature, and Crip Camp.
