ReelFilm: Opening Night

ReelFilm Opening Night 2026: Deaf President Now!

Join ReelAbilities Houston for the opening film night, featuring opening remarks from Festival chairs Rori Feldman, Sandi Helfman Wolf, and Jamie Wolf and the incredible film Deaf President Now!

Title: Deaf President Now

Disability Represented: Deaf, Hearing Loss

Director: Nyle Dimarco

101 m- Documentary- English- US

Description: During eight days in March 1988, Gallaudet University students ignite a watershed moment in civil rights history. When the board appoints a hearing president to lead the world's only Deaf university, four student leaders mobilize their peers into action. Their demands extend beyond campus leadership, challenging deeply entrenched systems and sparking a movement that reverberates through generations. Co-directed by Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim, this documentary weaves together firsthand accounts and archival footage to chronicle a pivotal moment in American civil rights that reshaped educational equity.

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