BEING HEUMANN

In 1977, disability rights activist Judy Heumann (Ruth Madeley) and a ragtag coalition of allies decide they've had enough of being ignored. When officials won't even take her calls, Judy decides the only option left is to occupy a San Francisco federal building and refuse to leave. What starts as one act of defiance becomes the real-life Section 504 sit-in, the longest occupation of a U.S. federal building in history, as hundreds of activists seize government offices nationwide, holding out for 25 days until the bureaucrat standing in their way, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph Califano, played by Mark Ruffalo, is forced to act. Directed by Academy Award winner Siân Heder (CODA) and adapted from Heumann's own memoir, Being Heumann is irreverent and inspirational – a deeply human account of a movement's reluctant leaders pulling off the improbable, forging a path where none had existed, and ultimately forcing the government to finally enforce disability rights law. You'll be cheering in your seats by the end of the film. Presentation of Special Achievement in Casting Award to casting directors Adam Caldwell and Bernard Tesley and Q&A following screening.