The opening night film at the Toronto International Film Festival, Being Heumann is director Sian Heder’s follow-up to her best picture winner CODA. Telling the true story of disability rights activist Judy Heumann and how she organized a historic occupation of a federal building in 1977, the film stars British actress Ruth Madeley as Heumann. At a time when a historic disability rights bill was stalled in the federal government, Heumann led her fellow activists in a 28-day sit-in at a San Francisco federal building. U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph Califano (played by Mark Ruffalo) was eventually persuaded to sign the Section 504 regulations that created landmark disability access across the country.