The film tells the true story of disability-rights advocate Judy Heumann, played by Doctor Who alum Ruth Madeley. It's based on Heumann's memoir and centers on the moment she led more than 100 disabled people to take over the federal building. That kicked off a 28 day sit-in, the longest occupation of a federal building in U.S. History.
In the trailer, the protesters form a tightly bound community. They refuse to leave until the government enforces section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which required all federal spaces to become accessible. Mark Ruffalo plays the bureaucrat standing in their way, and Dylan O'Brien, Jon Beavers, Rob Delaney and Ray Fisher also star.
Being Heumann gets its world premiere next week as the opening film of the Toronto Film Festival, screening September 10 at Roy Thomson Hall. The festival also world premieres Prima Facie, starring Cynthia Erivo, and The Assassin(s) from Korean filmmaker Hur Jin-ho that day. TIFF runs September 10-20. After Toronto, the movie debuts in select theaters November 6 and drops on Apple TV November 13.