Being Heumann Film Opens in Cinemas Today as Ruth Madeley Brings Judy Heumann’s 1977 Protest to the Screen

The Being Heumann film opens in select cinemas today, Friday 6 November 2026, with British actor Ruth Madeley playing disability rights pioneer Judy Heumann. Apple Original Films is giving the drama a short theatrical run before its global streaming debut on Apple TV on Friday 13 November, and the release has pushed Madeley’s name to the top of Google’s trending searches in the UK today.

Directed by Siân Heder, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind CODA, the Being Heumann film retells one of the most consequential protests in American civil rights history. In 1977, Heumann led more than 100 disabled activists in a 26-day occupation of the San Francisco Federal Building, demanding that the US government enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the first federal civil rights protection for disabled people.

Being Heumann film — quick reference

A 26-day occupation that forced a government to act

The story at the heart of the Being Heumann film begins with a regulation that sat unsigned. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 barred discrimination against disabled people in programmes receiving federal funding, yet by 1977 the rules that would put it into practice had still not been signed into force.

Heumann and fellow activists responded by occupying the San Francisco offices of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. The sit-in lasted 26 days, making it one of the longest occupations of a federal building in US history. The protest ended only after the regulations were finally signed, a turning point that reshaped disability rights law in America and beyond.

Heder co-wrote the screenplay with Rebekah Taussig, adapting Heumann’s own memoir. The director worked closely with Heumann while developing the film, calling her whenever a question came up, and Heumann answered. Madeley learned she had won the role on the second anniversary of Heumann’s death, a detail she has described as a heavy responsibility rather than a coincidence to celebrate.

Madeley, Ruffalo and the cast bringing 1977 to the screen

Madeley, who has spina bifida, is a BAFTA-nominated actor known for Don’t Take My Baby, Years and Years and Doctor Who. Her casting as Heumann places a disabled actor at the centre of a story about disabled people fighting for their own rights, a choice the production has framed as central to the film’s credibility.

Mark Ruffalo plays Joseph Califano, the secretary of health, education and welfare whose refusal to sign the Section 504 regulations put him at the centre of the confrontation. The supporting cast includes Dylan O’Brien, Madeline Delp, Rob Delaney, Daniel Durant and Ray Fisher, with Marlee Matlin among the producers.

The film opened the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September and later screened as a gala presentation at the BFI London Film Festival on 12 October. Early reviews have been positive, with critics praising the film’s focus on a single defining episode of Heumann’s life rather than a cradle-to-grave retelling.

From Toronto’s opening night to Apple TV: how to watch

Cinema audiences can see the Being Heumann film in select theatres from today, 6 November. The theatrical window is deliberately short: the film moves to Apple TV a week later, on Friday 13 November, where it will stream globally.

Apple has also released the film’s soundtrack today, 6 November, with an original score by Francesco Le Metre recorded with the London Contemporary Orchestra. The music arrives on the same day as the theatrical release, giving the film a coordinated launch across cinemas, streaming and audio.

UK viewers should note that the theatrical release is described as select theatres, so local listings are worth checking before travelling. The Apple TV date of 13 November is the confirmed global streaming debut.

Why the $5.04 ticket price is part of the story

Regal Cinemas is marking the release with open-caption showtimes from 9 to 11 November at more than 100 locations in the US, priced at $5.04 a ticket. The price is a deliberate reference to Section 504, the regulation at the centre of the 1977 protest.

The gesture fits the film’s subject. Open captions make screenings accessible to deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences, and the partnership with Apple Original Films turns a marketing detail into a small act of access in the spirit of the story itself. For a film about people who occupied a building to be heard, the pricing choice lands as more than a gimmick.

The film’s arrival also lands at a moment when disability representation on screen is under fresh scrutiny. Ashley Walters’ directorial debut Animol reached UK cinemas with its own conversation about who gets to tell which stories, while Stephen Graham’s Apple TV thriller Nocturne showed the streamer’s appetite for British-led prestige drama. Being Heumann sits squarely in that current, but with a true story that needed no invention.

Frequently asked questions

When does the Being Heumann film come out in cinemas?
The Being Heumann film opens in select theatres on Friday 6 November 2026. It is a limited theatrical release ahead of streaming.

When is Being Heumann on Apple TV?
Being Heumann streams globally on Apple TV from Friday 13 November 2026, one week after its cinema opening.

Who plays Judy Heumann in the film?
Ruth Madeley, the BAFTA-nominated British actor, plays Judy Heumann. Mark Ruffalo co-stars as Joseph Califano, the government secretary who refused to sign the Section 504 regulations.

Is Being Heumann based on a true story?
Yes. The film adapts Judy Heumann’s memoir and dramatises the real 1977 Section 504 sit-in, when disabled activists occupied the San Francisco Federal Building for 26 days until the regulations were signed.

Why are Regal Cinemas tickets $5.04?
The $5.04 price references Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the law at the centre of the protest. Regal is offering open-caption showtimes at that price from 9 to 11 November at more than 100 US locations.

Myth to leave behind: the film is a documentary.
It is not. Being Heumann is a biographical drama with actors, a screenplay and a score. The events it depicts are real, and the film is adapted from Heumann’s own memoir, but the performances are dramatised rather than documentary footage.