Deaf President Now!

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Deaf President Now!

2025

1h 39m

Documentary

History

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47 Reviews

92%

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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

05/19/2025

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

05/16/2025

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

05/16/2025

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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Nate S

@smithn1124 Jul 11

For the most part, Deaf President Now! played the normal documentary beats, but it was the film’s smart use of sound (and silence), interviewing the right (and the most interesting) people from the events, and transitions from archival footage to staged reenactments that gave the documentary life and a unique voice.

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Joseph C

@RT57854882 May 31

What a story! Reality surpasses fiction once again! In this story it has fallen on deaf ears to make stand and what a stand! Inspiring and real!

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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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Nyle DiMarco

Director

Davis Guggenheim

Director

Bridgette Bourne-Firl

Self

Jerry Covell

Self

Greg Hlibok

Self

I. King Jordan

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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