The American Film Institute has announced that it has selected “Being Heumann,” Siân Heder’s follow-up to her Best Picture-winning “CODA,” as the closing night film of the 40th edition of AFI Fest, screening on October 25. While “Being Heumann” already had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10th, this screening will be the film’s U.S. premiere. Apple TV will release the film in select theaters on November 6, prior to its streaming release on November 13. A limited number of tickets to this premiere go on sale on October 3.
Siân Heder is an AFI alum, graduating from the AFI Directing Workshop for Women in 2005. In “Being Heumann,” she adapts disability rights activist Judith Heumann’s memoir “Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist.” The film depicts the movement to make buildings more accessible and the iconic 28-day sit-in protest Heumann orchestrated. BAFTA-nominee Ruth Madeley plays the titular advocate, and Academy Award-nominee Mark Ruffalo is Joseph A. Califano Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare who is reluctant to sign the Section 504 regulations that could grant equal access to those with disabilities.
Are you looking forward to seeing “Being Heumann“? Are you looking to attend the AFI Film Festival this year? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below or on our X account.
