Last night at the TCL Chinese Theatre, Apple Original Films’ critically acclaimed “Being Heumann” premiered as the closing night film at the 40th annual AFI Film Festival in Los Angeles. Directed by Academy Award winner Siân Heder and starring Ruth Madeley and Mark Ruffalo, the highly anticipated drama, which chronicles Judy Heumann’s journey as she leads more than a hundred young activists in the fight for disability rights, debuts in select theaters on Friday, November 6, 2026 and premieres globally on Apple TV on November 13, 2026.
Attendees on the red carpet included writer, director and producer Heder, as well as stars Madeley and Ruffalo, alongside the ensemble cast including Madeline Delp, Roberta Colindrez, Antwan Tolliver, Ray Fisher, Andrew Pilkington, Daniel Durant, Charlie Rush-Reese, Rio Finnegan, D’Arcee Charington Neal, Matthew August Jeffers, Siena Rafter and Rein Barcel. Co-writer Rebekah Taussig, as well as producers David Permut, Kevin J. Walsh, John W. Beach and Kevin Cleary were in attendance with executive producers Jim LeBrecht, Kristen Joiner and Ann Molin. Special guests included Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur from Academy Award Best Picture winner “CODA,” who reunited with fellow cast member Daniel Durant and writer and director Heder.
They wouldn’t take Judy Heumann’s phone calls, so she took their building. In 1977, a young disabled woman (Madeley) 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 (Ruffalo) 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. Directed by Academy Award winner Heder (“CODA”) and based on true events, “Being Heumann” is the revolutionary, irreverent and deeply human story of the least likely people trying to pull off the impossible and change the lives of millions.
“Being Heumann” is directed and produced by Heder, and written alongside co-writer Rebekah Taussig. The film is produced by John W. Beach, Kevin Cleary, David Permut for Permut Presentations and Kevin J. Walsh for The Walsh Company. The film is executive produced by Jim LeBrecht, Diana Pokorny, Ann Molin and Kristen Joiner, co-author of Heumann’s bestselling memoir “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist.” Madeline Delp, Roberta Colindrez, Jon Beavers, Antwan Tolliver, Ray Fisher, Andrew Pilkington, Russell Harvard, Daniel Durant, Charlie Rush-Reese, Rio Finnegan, D’Arcee Charington Neal, Will Brill, Matthew August Jeffers, Siena Rafter and Rein Barcel also star in the film.
Watch “Being Heumann” on Apple TV.
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