Midwest Premiere
The remarkable true story of how solidarity and collective power helped a remarkable student body transfer their university toward justice and fairness.
Deaf President Now! recounts the eight days of historic protests held at Gallaudet University in 1988 after the school’s board of trustees appointed a hearing president over several very qualified Deaf candidates. After a week of rallies, boycotts, and protests, the students of Gallaudet University triumph over an uncaring board and administration as the hearing president resigns and beloved dean Dr. I. King Jordan becomes the university’s first Deaf president. The protests marked a pivotal moment in civil rights history, with an impact that extended well beyond the Gallaudet campus, and paved the way for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). [100 min; documentary; American Sign Language and English with English subtitles]
"Deaf President Now! skillfully draws the lines for all viewers. It’s not just a story about a moment in history: It’s also about the ways the movement for deaf education led to the broader disability rights arguments, and how everyone’s rights depend on everyone else’s." — Alissa Wilkinson, The New York Times
"Roger Ebert famously described cinema as a machine that generates empathy. This movie is that machine: a relentless engine field by idealism and craft." — Matt Zoller Seitz, RogerEbert.com
"With a blend of archive footage and re-enactments the filmmakers skillfully recreate the urgency, passion and energy of their protest." — Cath Clarke, The Guardian
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