Sian Heder, the filmmaker who taught millions what being the child of deaf adults was all about with her Best Picture-winning film CODA, is staying with the subject of disability. Heder’s next project, Being Heumann, centers on the trailblazing disability rights activist Judith Heumann, who will be played by Ruth Madeley . THR reports that Mark Ruffalo has also joined Madeley in the cast.
Being Heumann is based on Heumann’s memoir, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, published just three years before her death. The film will chronicle Heumann’s efforts as a disability rights activist beginning in the 1970s, often challenging the administration of President Richard Nixon. In 1977, Heumann took part in the 504 Sit-In, leading over a hundred disabled people in a 28-day sit-in at the San Francisco Federal Building, the longest sit-in at a federal building. The protestors vowed to stay until the government enforced Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, requiring accessibility for all federal programs or activities.
Ruffalo will play Joseph Califano, who was the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare for the Jimmy Carter Administration.
Heder and Rebekah Taussig co-wrote the screenplay.
Madeley is a British actress best known for her roles in Doctor Who, Years and Years, and The Almond and the Seahorse opposite Rebel Wilson.
Ruffalo is…well, he’s Mark Ruffalo. You know what he’s done. Coming up he has Crime 101 opposite his Marvel pal Chris Hemsworth. He recently joined another Marvel alum, Natalie Portman, in Lena Dunham’s film Good Sex.
