The fall festivals have seen a number of actors make strong cases for their presence in this year’s awards race, from Emma Stone for “Poor Things” to Jeffrey Wright for “American Fiction.” But few have been as authoritative as Colman Domingo in “Rustin,” which could help Domingo’s other movie, “Sing Sing,” get some attention as well with its premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday.
Written and directed by Greg Kwedar (“Jockey”), the indie drama is a curious concoction that finds veteran actor Domingo playing a would-be playwright in a theater program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility; his fellow actors, with the notable exception of “Sound of Metal” Oscar nominee Paul Raci, are, for the most part, former prisoners who took place in that actual program and are billed in the credits as playing themselves.