Judy Heumann, pictured at an event in 2015, is the subject of a movie that is being developed by Apple Original Films. (Geraldo Magela/Agência Senado/Flickr)
A feature film is in the works about a prominent activist known as the “mother of the disability rights movement.”
Apple Original Films said it is making a movie about Judy Heumann who was instrumental in fighting for civil rights protections for people with disabilities.
The film will be based on Heumann’s memoir “Being Heumann,” which tells of her role leading more than a hundred people with disabilities in a 1977 sit-in at the San Francisco Federal Building, which lasted nearly a month and pressured the government to enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, a law requiring federal spaces to be accessible.
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Heumann, who died in 2023, contracted polio at the age of 2, leaving her unable to walk. Her parents were told to institutionalize her, but instead they fought to enroll her in school. As an adult, Heumann was denied a teaching license from the New York Board of Education because they worried she would not be able to evacuate in an emergency, but she ultimately became the state’s first teacher in a wheelchair.
In addition to Section 504, Heumann was influential in developing and ensuring implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Apple film will be adapted, directed and produced by Academy Award-winner Siân Heder, who wrote and directed “CODA,” the first film with a predominately deaf cast to win an Oscar for Best Picture. The movie about Heumann will star Ruth Madeley, who has spina bifida and is known for “Doctor Who,” “Then Barbara Met Alan” and “Years and Years.”
“What an unbelievable honour to play the mother of disability rights, an icon and powerhouse to the disabled community,” Madeley said in a statement. “Judy has always been a source of inspiration for me personally and I am so excited to share her story with the world. This is truly the role of a lifetime.”
Apple did not comment on when the film is expected to be released.
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