“Being Heumann, which opens the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 10, centers on Judy Heumann, who, after contracting polio as a toddler, used a wheelchair the rest of her life for mobility. Like so many in her same situation, she was told she was a fire hazard and denied access to even attend school as a child. Getting around in public places was difficult, if not impossible in some cases, because of a lack of ramps.
But then came the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which included Section 504 — a mandate establishing equal access to public accommodations, benefits, and other anti-discrimination protections. Because of the enormous compliance costs involved, with a $3 billion budget, it remained unsigned and unimplemented by the federal government…until Heumann took action, leading 1977’s 504 Sit-in, the longest nonviolent occupation of a U.S. federal building, an attempt to get President Carter’s Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, Joseph Califano Jr. (Mark Ruffalo), to take action.”