Siân Heder's 'Being Heumann' to Open TIFF 2026, Bringing the Fight for Disability Rights to the Festival's Biggest Stage
The Toronto International Film Festival will open its 51st edition with a story of protest. TIFF announced Tuesday that "Being Heumann," the new Apple Original Film from Oscar-winning "CODA" director Siân Heder, will have its world premiere as the Opening Night Film on Thursday, September 10, at Roy Thomson Hall.
The biographical drama stars BAFTA nominee Ruth Madeley as Judy Heumann, the pioneering disability rights advocate whose name became synonymous with the movement. Adapted by Heder and Rebekah Taussig from Heumann's bestselling memoir "Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist," the film chronicles the historic 1977 Section 504 sit-in, when Heumann led more than 100 disabled activists in a takeover of the San Francisco Federal Building. The protesters refused to leave for 28 days — the longest nonviolent occupation of a federal building in U.S. history — until the government agreed to enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which mandated accessibility in all federally funded spaces. That victory laid the groundwork for the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The ensemble includes Mark Ruffalo, Ray Fisher, Dylan O'Brien, Rob Delaney, Daniel Durant — reuniting with Heder after "CODA" — and Madeline Delp. Heumann, who died in 2023, contracted polio as a toddler and used a wheelchair for most of her life; her story reached wider audiences through the Oscar-nominated 2020 documentary "Crip Camp."
"We're thrilled to open this year's festival with Siân Heder's inspiring follow-up to her Oscar-winning CODA," said TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey, praising Madeley's "electric performance" as a world-changing advocate for accessibility.
The selection is historic in its own right: Heder becomes only the fourth woman to direct a TIFF opening night film, following Patricia Rozema (1987), Deepa Mehta (2005) and Sally El Hosaini (2022). It also marks her first feature since "CODA" swept to Best Picture at the 2022 Academy Awards — a film that made history for Deaf representation on screen. With "Being Heumann," Heder continues to center communities Hollywood has too often kept in the margins.
TIFF also announced two additional Gala world premieres: Susanna White's "Prima Facie," a legal drama starring Cynthia Erivo adapted from Suzie Miller's acclaimed stage play, and Korean filmmaker Hur Jin-ho's political thriller "The Assassin(s)," starring Lee Min-ho, set around the 1974 assassination attempt on President Park Chung-hee.
The 51st Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10–20, with the full lineup expected August 11. Coming off last year's milestone 50th edition, which drew roughly 700,000 attendees, this year's festival also launches the inaugural TIFF: The Market.