Deaf President Now!

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Deaf President Now!

May 2025

1h 39m

Documentary

History

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45 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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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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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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Julian Singleton

Cinapse

Jul 11

Deaf President Now!’s actions and emotions are louder than life–recognizing how organized collective fury and joy work hand in hand as the best weapons against societies clouded by ignorance and indifference.

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Pamela Powell

Reel Talk with Chuck and Pam

Jul 7

4/4

The surprisingly uplifting and sometimes humorous documentary of the week-long fight in 1988 from students at Gallaudet University, the only deaf university in the world, is incredibly entertaining and inspiring.

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Bill C

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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Timo E

@TimoEx Jul 5

So good. One of the best films I've seen in a long time. I passed this by several times, but glad I finally pushed play.

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Michael C

Jun 24

I knew nothing about this but having made a short film many years ago with deaf actors I was aware of Gallaudet as the world's only deaf-language university. It's a compelling documentary, moving, and quite entertaining. The best thing about this is it has a dramatic arc which is true, yet still surprising. Give it a try!

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Eric N

Jun 21

This was a truly great documentary - riveting, heartbreaking, inspirational, emotional, empowering, etc. There truly are not enough adjectives to describe the powerful story that the creators of this film have created. One of the most impressive aspects of Deaf President Now! is how much archival footage was available and how it was woven so perfectly with the present-day interviews of the five featured characters, along with some heart-wrenching film clips from the childhoods of the four students. The editing of all these elements helps create a movie that works on so many levels and delivers a powerful message about deafness that most hearing people like me need to know about. I recommend this film 100%. Thanks again to Apple TV+ for bringing yet another great documentary to its streaming service. It's one more reason why it is, by far, my favourite of all the services I subscribe to.

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Tom F

Jun 20

My past experience with Apple documentaries gave me low expectations, but it’s pretty good.

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Kim S

Jun 17

Excellent documentary of an important event in not just Deaf history but history of the power of ordinary people who take a stand. Even though I was familiar with this event, I still learned so much, enjoyed the interviews with the key players involved in 1988 and had anxiety throughout feeling a part of the fight they were going through in an age before smart phones. Highly recommend.

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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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