Release date, plot and cast — your 'Being Heuman' series guide
A landmark protest fuels Siân Heder’s bold return to Apple TV — and the timing of its release is the detail you’re after.
Siân Heder drops viewers straight into San Francisco, 1977, where a 26‑day occupation of a federal building forces the government to finally enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Instead of courtroom speeches, the drama plays out in hallways and offices: organizers coordinating meals and medical care, strategizing around accessibility needs, and using the press to turn a local standoff into a national alarm.
Based on disability rights legend Judy Heumann’s memoir, Being Heumann is an Apple Original Film directed by Heder and co-written with Rebekah Taussig. It ’s a feature, running 127 minutes, and it channels the human-scaled clarity that helped Heder’s CODA win Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay into a very different kind of uprising.
What the film covers
The story centers on the government’s long delay in issuing the regulations that would give Section 504 its teeth — a stall that leaves people with disabilities shut out of schools, jobs, and public life. Heumann and a cross-disability coalition answer with a sit‑in at the regional office of Health, Education, and Welfare, building a community inside the building while turning up the heat on HEW Secretary Joseph Califano to sign.
The Black Panther Party lends support to keep the occupation going, while a television crew carries the protesters’ message far beyond the Bay. Heder’s focus sits with the individuals making hard choices in the moment — the disagreements, the fatigue, and the resolve — that push a policy fight over the finish line.
Cast and characters
- Ruth Madeley — Judy Heumann: The driving force of the occupation and its chief strategist.
- Mark Ruffalo — Joseph Califano: The HEW Secretary facing mounting pressure to sign the long-delayed 504 regulations.
- Dylan O’Brien — Evan White: A TV journalist documenting the sit‑in and broadcasting it to the country.
- Madeline Delp — Kitty Cone: A key organizer helping turn solidarity into on-the-ground strategy.
- Rob Delaney — Congressman George Miller: A Capitol Hill ally who brings a Washington perspective into the fight.
Release
Being Heumann opens in select theaters on November 6, 2026 , and debuts globally on Apple TV on November 13.
The film first bowed at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2026, setting the stage for its November rollout in theaters followed by its global streaming launch.