Ruth Madeley’s ‘Being Heumann’ to Open TIFF
Apple TV’s forthcoming historical film 'Being Heumann' will arrive in theaters this November.
Apple TV’s forthcoming historical film Being Heumann will arrive in theaters this November, just in time for awards season conversation. Based on Judy Heumann’s memoir of the same name, Being Heumann tells the story of the “Mother of the Disability Rights Movement,” a woman who played a pivotal role in bringing about the legislation that led to the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Heumann, who lost her ability to walk at age two after contracting polio, encountered discrimination throughout her life. Being Heumann dramatizes the famous 25-day sit-in she led at a U.S. Federal Building in San Francisco in 1977, when protestors refused to leave until the government enforced Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which required all federal spaces to become accessible.
British actress Ruth Madeley, best known for playing UNIT science advisor Shirley Anne Bingham on Doctor Who and for her passionate advocacy for disability representation in the arts, plays Heumman, who passed away in 2022. In true “Direct to Awards Season Conversation” form, the film will make its debut on the film festival circuit in September before arriving in theaters (and then on streaming) later in the fall.
Here’s the film’s synopsis.
They wouldn’t take Judy Heumann’s phone calls, so she took their building. In 1977, a young disabled woman and a scrappy coalition of outsiders decide they’ve had enough. What begins as one impulsive act becomes the longest occupation of a federal building in American history, as hundreds spontaneously seize government offices and refuse to leave until the bureaucrat in their way takes action. Bringing rebellion in all its forms to the hallowed halls, a movement’s accidental leaders struggle to find their path forward where none has ever been paved for them.
Alongside Madeley, the film’s cast also features Mark Ruffalo (Task), Rob Delaney (PONIES), Jon Beavers (Watson), Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf), Daniel Durant (CODA), Ray Fisher (Justice League), and Madeline Delp (Inaccessible Family Love).
Siân Heder, who won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for CODA, directs from a script she co-wrote with Rebekah Tassig, adapted from Heumann’s memoir. The film is produced by David Permut (Hacksaw Ridge) and Kevin Walsh (Napoleon) for The Walsh Company under his overall deal with Apple. Heumann’s managers John W. Beach and Kevin Cleary (of Gravity Squared Entertainment) serve as producers. Executive producers include Heumann, Being Heumann co-author Kristen Joiner, and Diana Pokorny.
Being Heumann is set to open the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, September 10, at Roy Thomson Hall. Apple will then follow with a release in select theaters on Friday, November 6, followed by a global debut on Apple TV one week later, Friday, November 13, 2026.
Subscribe to Telly Visions paying tiers to join our Discord server!
