The Curb Cut

October 23, 2026

David Permut is heading to Savannah for a visit measured in hours. He’ll arrive in time for an evening in town, represent two films at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, then depart after a Saturday Q&A to make it back to Los Angeles for another premiere.

He had hoped to stay longer, eat his way across the city, and take in what he calls Savannah’s “spirit.” This trip, though, has an urgent purpose. He is here to share Being Heumann with an audience and celebrate the woman whose life’s work changed how millions of people move through the world.

“Did you ever look down at every street crossing in America and see a curb cut?” Permut asked. Most people have, yet few know the story behind them. “That curb cut exists for a reason,” he said, tracing the path back to Judy Heumann, the disability rights pioneer who co-led the historic 1977 Section 504 sit-in in San Francisco.

Heumann contracted polio as a toddler and used a wheelchair throughout her life. As a young woman, she confronted a country built with virtually no regard for whether people with disabilities could enter a municipal building, board a city bus, or even transition from asphalt to sidewalk. In April 1977, Heumann and fellow advocates occupied the regional Department of Health, Education, and Welfare building to demand long-delayed federal regulations enforcing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. The San Francisco occupation lasted 26 days, becoming the longest civil rights sit-in at a federal building in U.S. history and a watershed moment for disability rights.

Permut treats the curb cut as an accessible entry point into a story that touches everyone. “One voice made the world a better place,” he said. Being Heumann, directed by Siân Heder and starring Ruth Madeley, brings that struggle to the screen. The production cast disabled actors in leading roles and built hydraulic lifts into trailers across the set. Inclusion, Permut emphasized, had to extend beyond the script into the logistics of the production itself.

Permut has spent four decades balancing major studio features with biographical films about overlooked figures. His credits include Face/Off and Hacksaw Ridge, as well as Rustin, chronicling the architect of the 1963 March on Washington, and the Emmy-nominated Prayers for Bobby. With Being Heumann, he found a project that delivers compelling storytelling while altering what viewers notice the moment they step back onto the street.

To bring this story to life, the production assembled a heavyweight ensemble. Alongside Madeley, four-time Academy Award nominee Mark Ruffalo stars as HEW Secretary Joseph Califano, the federal official pressured by the protests, while Dylan O’Brien plays Evan White, the television news reporter who covered the occupation from inside the building. The cast also features Rob Delaney, Ray Fisher, and CODA star Daniel Durant, anchoring an ensemble recognized as one of the largest and most visible gatherings of disabled performers in a major film.

The initial test screening confirmed that impact. “There were 300 people,” he recalled. “They stood up.” The film balances historical gravity with humor, an instinct true to Heumann, who passed away in 2023 while the adaptation was underway. Permut recalled an evening out when he noticed a silver object she carried. When he asked about it, she deadpanned that it was “to let air out of people’s tires as they park in a handicap zone, and they’re not handicapped.”

That irreverent streak was central to her power. Heumann was never a passive symbol. She was a sharp, persistent strategist who built broad coalitions among communities systematically excluded from public life. “Every time I look down at a street crossing, I think of Judy Heumann,” Permut said.

He hopes moviegoers leave mindful of the organizers behind everyday public accommodations they take for granted. “Everybody has a voice,” he said. “And they should use their voice and express themselves that way. As Judy did.”

The film’s message carries a distinct charge in Savannah, where historic preservation shapes civic life. Preservation and accessibility inevitably collide in the routines of everyday navigation: negotiating brick walkways, entering centuries-old doorways, dining in historic squares, or finding an accessible path. Permut observed that while Savannah takes pride in safeguarding its history, Heumann’s legacy poses an essential follow-up question: who is granted full access to take part in that heritage?

Asked what he hopes audiences take away in an era of intense polarization, Permut returned to the unifying power of cinema. He quoted the enduring motto associated with Warner Bros. co-founder Harry Warner: “To educate, entertain, and enlighten.” For Permut, Being Heumann aims for all three, reminding viewers that a more universally accessible world began with a coalition of people who simply refused to leave the room.

Being Heumann screens at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival on Saturday, October 24 at 1:30 p.m. at Trustees Theater, followed by a Q&A with Permut. The film arrives in select theaters on November 6 and premieres for streaming on Apple TV+ on November 13.