“Life’s Essentials with Ruby Dee”
2:30 p.m. October 26. $10. National Center for Civil and Human Rights, 100 Ivan Allen Jr. Blvd, Atlanta. WATCHRUBYDEESTORY.COM
Muta’Ali Muhammad had long been making a name for himself as a young filmmaker, plumbing for the stories that reveal our humanity.
And yet it wasn’t until the death of his grandfather that he realized he’d overlooked a great story in his own family, that of his late grandparents — actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee.
It was 2005 and Muhammad, 35, remembers having a revelation as he pondered how people from all over the country often called upon the couple, particularly his “Gram Ruby,” for advice.
That's the moment he knew he'd create "Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee" an 86-minute documentary about the life, love, art and activism of Ruby Dee, and her one true love, Ossie Davis.
The documentary, which premiered this past summer in New York, is scheduled to be screened here Sunday during the 5th Annual BronzeLens Film Festival at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
“I was very close with Grandpa but I never deliberately sat down and talked with him about his life,” Muhammad said early this week by phone.
He would not make the same mistake with Gram Ruby, who would’ve celebrated her 92nd birthday Oct. 27.
Muhammad, the second oldest of the Hollywood couples’ seven grandchildren, packed up his Atlanta life and moved back to New York, where he’s grown up, to capture her life, to learn and preserve those things she and Davis held dear: family, positive artistic representations of African-Americans and social activism.
With more than $53,000 in seed money raised via Kickstarter, he began slowly and meticulously gathering string, mining exclusive video footage, family photos and memorabilia. He recorded remembrances from a long list of friends, including Alan Alda, Harry Belafonte and Danny Glover. He quizzed Gram Ruby who describes her childhood, what it takes to remain faithful in a marriage, and how her career decisions were guided by her commitment to the greater good.
A year later at a special screening and on her 90th birthday in 2012, the beloved actress saw the first act of the documentary. It was a recount, in Muhammad’s view, of her life. Gram Ruby, though, saw it as a tale about community.
“She explained to me that I was showing a grandmother teaching her grandson and a family sharing stories about one another,” Muhammad said. “And because of that everyone in the neighborhood will start doing it. I didn’t get it at first but she’s absolutely right. I’m really happy about that.”
Earlier this year on June 11, Gram Ruby passed away.
Days before the screening, Muhammad, who holds a master’s degree in human computer interaction from Georgia Tech, answered some questions for us:
Q. What was the one burning question you asked her?
A. With all the temptation out there, how can you remain faithful to the same man for 56 years? She told me that she couldn't say that she never did anything to disappoint Grandpa or that he never did anything to disappoint her but she loved him more than anything and no matter what happened they were committed to staying with each other because when you give someone your word, you stick with it.
Q. What do you remember most about her?
A. I remember how funny she was. Gram Ruby was the most witty person I've ever known. Sitting with her and watching her observe life was a complete joy.
Q. Why did you want to tell her story?
A. Gram Ruby was an extremely talented and passionate person. An actor, a writer, a poet, an activist, a wife of over 56 years, a mother and a grandmother. I wanted to create a story that promoted the principles I found in her life and the life of my grandfather, a Cogdell, GA., native.
Q. Why the focus on Ruby Dee and not the couple?
A. Well, at the time Gram Ruby was alive and Grandpa was gone. I wish I could have sat with both of them and talked with them about their lives and their principles and asked them how to be a better man. I'm sure Grandpa's genius would have added so much. He is, though, very much a part of the documentary. His voice, his wisdom and his words, through archival footage, are very powerful in this story.
Q. How has their activism impacted your own art?
A. I always have a tough time answering that but I think I understand now that what I dream of as an artist must be about uplifting others, helping someone. "Life's Essentials" is really a first step in using my art as a platform to inspire people to take their relationship more seriously and to talk with their elders. That is the type of social change Grandma and Grandpa were about.
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