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Deaf President Now!

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Deaf President Now!

Released May 16

1h 39m

Documentary

History

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35 Reviews

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"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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Michael O'Sullivan

Washington Post

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

Rated: 3.5/4

May 19, 2025

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Matt Zoller Seitz

RogerEbert.com

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.

Rated: 4/4

May 16, 2025

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Christian Blauvelt

IndieWire

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

Rated: B+

May 16, 2025

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Stephen Silver

The SS Ben Hecht

An impressively put-together archival documentary about the 1988 conflagration that happened when Gallaudet University, the nation’s only university for the deaf, tried to hire a non-deaf president.

Jun 6, 2025

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Dora Matijević

Film Ireland Magazine

What makes Deaf President Now! so groundbreaking is how the Deaf community is given the space to tell their own story, and on their own terms.

Jun 6, 2025

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Tom Meek

Cambridge Day

As with Guggenheim’s other delves, “Deaf President Now!” is composed meticulously. There’s a virtuosic blending of interviews with archival footage and smart dramatizations that aptly employ sensory deprivation to put you in the moment.

Rated: 3.5/4

May 28, 2025

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Benny C

This wasn't a story that I was familiar with. This documentary was definitely worth the watch, entertaining and educational.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/23/25

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Cathy V

As a special education teacher who works with students who are deaf, my heart soared watching these smart, determined students fight (without violence or destruction) to have a University President who was deaf and who could communicate with them. It seems like a no brainer in the year 2025 but they had never had a deaf President up to that point and getting one then seemed like a daunting, if not impossible, task. The documentary with the original student leaders and produced by a deaf person and directed by a hearing person, is able to to capture unique perspectives and film techniques because of this partnership. I can't wait to watch it again and share it with others!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/23/25

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Eddie E

Very well documentary of an incredible (and victorious) deaf student action at Gallaudet against trustees in effort to get a deaf president.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

05/19/25

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Sal D

Even if some of the added dean between the protagonists felt a bit amplified (true or not) to accentuate the tension in the documentary, this story of David versus Goliath is very rewarding and definitely a lesson on how to make change.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/17/25

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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 TV+
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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