Attendees of the HBCU First Look Film Festival received an unexpected yet very pleasant surprise this past Friday when former President and First Lady Barack and Michelle Obama made an appearance at the Rustin film premiere. The screening was one of the opening night events of the film festival held at Howard University. The Obamas, who are executive producers of the film, took to the stage to talk about the production of the film as well as celebrate the end of the writers’ and actors’ strike.
Their production company, Higher Ground, is responsible for the movie about Bayard Rustin. Rustin, an openly gay activist who served as an advisor to Martin Luther King Jr., was the organizer behind the March on Washington in 1963.
“We don’t know much about the folks who did the hard work. Who packed the lunches… sorted the accommodations… figured out where all those folks were going to go to the bathroom… the unsung organizers who willingly and freely devoted thousands of hours so that people from every background and every part of the country could come together to peacefully rally for justice and equality,” Michelle said at the event. “Bayard Rustin was the driving force behind all of that. His dedication… his optimism… his expert execution — he set the stage for the March and all the progress that flowed from it.”
The film stars, Colman Domingo (Candyman) and is directed by George C. Wolf. The cast also includes Chris Rock, Glynn Turman, Aml Ameen, CCH Pounder, Julies Latimer, Maxwell Whittington-Cooper, and more. In 2013, the former president posthumously awarded Rustin with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Rustin has screened at the Toronto International and Telluride Film Festivals. The film opened in select theaters on November 3rd and will be released on November 17th.
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