Sian Heder followed CODA with disabled actors in the leads, and Being Heumann premiered at TIFF

Right, let’s get into Being Heumann, Sian Heder’s new film which has finally turned up at TIFF 2026. If you’ve been waiting to see what she'd do after CODA swept up at the Oscars a few years back, well, you’re not alone. It’s taken her over five years to get this one from idea to screen — quite the breather after that big win, but it looks like she’s channelled her time into another proper crowd-pleaser.

Being Heumann is having its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and will then open in cinemas for a limited run in November before landing on Apple TV+.

The Real-Life Story

The whole thing centres on Judith Heumann, a huge figure in the US disability rights movement — you’ll sometimes hear her called the 'mother of the Disability Rights Movement', and for good reason. Ruth Madeley leads as Heumann, and the film zeroes in on the sit-in protest she organised back in the day. This wasn’t a casual occupy-the-lobby situation, either; we’re talking a twenty-five-day sit-in, all because the US Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare at the time, Joseph Califano (played by Mark Ruffalo), was dragging his heels on signing key regulations for the Rehabilitation Act. These were the sort that would force public buildings to put in wheelchair ramps and make actual space for disabled people — things most of us would hope are standard these days, but were, for ages, written off as 'too pricey' or 'impractical'. Heumann was instrumental in actually moving things forward and making those basic rights non-negotiable.

Authenticity in Casting

Here's something refreshing: this isn’t another ‘crack at awards glory’ from a non-disabled A-lister playing the lead. Heder has cast the film with disabled actors — much like she did using Deaf actors in CODA — and the result feels a lot more real. Ruth Madeley brings a sharp, no-nonsense energy to Heumann: driven, occasionally bristly, even a bit too forceful for some of her quieter collaborators. But if anything, Heder’s take is that this kind of forthrightness was precisely what the movement needed. Madeline Delp deserves a nod as Kitty Cone, Heumann’s fellow activist — she’s softer spoken, but just as impactful.

Ruffalo, O’Brien, and the Rest

Now, Mark Ruffalo’s Joseph Califano does end up looking like the baddie of the piece — he’s the obstacle, after all — but the film doesn’t flatten him out. There’s recognition that he wasn’t entirely heartless; he genuinely did a fair bit of good in office, but was stuck, in the film’s view, on worries about the costs of these disability reforms. Ruffalo plays him with a mix of impatience and sympathy, not just a cardboard villain blocking progress for the sake of it.

Dylan O'Brien also makes an appearance as a journalist who starts out sniffing for a story but ends up genuinely converted by the movement — another small arc that gives the film a bit of extra heart. It’s the sort of role you’ve seen before, but it works.

• The world premiere is at TIFF 2026, which is the film’s first public screening.
• Cinema release is limited and set for November this year.
• It’ll stream globally on Apple TV+ after that run.

This is being teed up as an Oscar contender for Apple, and Ruth Madeley’s turn should put her right in the frame for awards talk. The film isn’t just history homework, either — it actually delivers as entertainment. Heder keeps things moving, doesn’t hammer you over the head with the message, and, honestly, makes a solid case that more of these stories should get told in the first place.