Deaf President Now!

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Deaf President Now!

2025

1h 39m

Documentary

History

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47 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

"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 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).

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Critics Consensus

Deftly chronicling a pivotal flashpoint in deaf community activism while skillfully folding inclusivity into its style, Deaf President Now! is a documentary that heartens as much as it informs.

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Michael O'Sullivan

Washington Post

May 19

3.5/4

It’s a manifestation of what change makers all too often run into: ears that are metaphorically deaf to the obvious.

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Matt Zoller Seitz

RogerEbert.com

May 16

4/4

It’s a stealthy formal triumph that refines existing cinematic language and adds brand new words and phrases to the vocabulary, as it were, because that’s what was needed to do justice to its subject matter.

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Christian Blauvelt

IndieWire

May 16

B+

An extraordinary portrait of one pivotal week in the history of Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.

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Glenn Dunks

reDocumented

Mar 8

It proves a smartly assembled technical piece, too. Michael Harte’s editing, switching between archival footage and cleanly shot talking heads is efficient and tight. The sound design of Samir Foco is a surprising, nonsensical snub by the Emmy voters.

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John Stark

Mac the Movie Guy

Dec 31

100/100

It feels like breathing. It feels like a story of people who were at first asking for the right to breathe,and being told no, so they had to fight for their right to breathe.

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Jennifer Green

Common Sense Media

Aug 28

3/5

The directors have compiled a solid recounting of a pivotal historical event.

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Tom Z.

@tzale7 Mar 4

Purely one of the most inspirational movies that truly captures & empowers the deaf experience. Please watch!

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Jeff B

@JeffBanks729 Feb 1

A superb documentary, brilliantly filmed, excellent direction, telling and incredibly important part of our history!

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Renee E

@ReneeinAK Jan 28

Great documentary! Very well done. I would love to share this with my students, but the profanity is slammed door. Is there a family friendly version somewhere?

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Margy C

@Sunnyvale Dec 28

Wonderful, wonderful documentary that really captures the long-simmering frustration of the deaf community at the world’s only liberal arts university for the deaf to secure a president who accurately represents their community. Absolutely enthralling from start to finish!

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Bill C

@BillC1618 Sep 18

A great documentary that embeds you in the lives and struggles of deaf people in 1988 at a key point in their evolution from being seen as disable to differently-able people.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Jul 19

Real footage in 1 hour and 39 minutes.

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Nyle DiMarco

Director

Davis Guggenheim

Director

Bridgette Bourne-Firl

Self

Jerry Covell

Self

Greg Hlibok

Self

I. King Jordan

Self

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Synopsis

"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 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).

Director: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim
Producer: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim, Michael Harte, Jonathan King, Amanda Rohlke
Distributor: Apple Original Films
Production Co: Concordia Studio
Genre: Documentary, History
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 16, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 16, 2025
Runtime: 1h 39m

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