Premieres Monday, July 21, 2025 at 11 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS app
After graduating from high school, Samuel Habib—who lives with significant health, communication, and mobility challenges—feels stuck and left behind. He dreams of going to college, making friends, dating, and moving out of his parents’ home. “But no one tells you how to be an adult,” he says, “let alone an adult with a disability.”
Determined not to become a statistic—unemployed, isolated, or institutionalized like so many adults with disabilities—Samuel sets out to find guidance and self-empowerment. He embarks on a cross-country journey to connect with disabled leaders and activists who have carved out vibrant lives for themselves.
His mentors include comedian Maysoon Zayid, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) pioneers Judy Heumann and Bob Williams, Tony Award®-winning wheelchair-using actor Ali Stroker, hip-hop artist Keith Jones, autistic queer activist Lydia Xīnzhèn M. Zhǎngsūn Brown and marathon runner Andrew Peterson.
Together, this eclectic cohort offers Samuel both practical tools and profound encouragement. The late Judy Heumann believed in his potential to help change the world. Zayid pushes him to challenge dominant narratives, noting, “When non-disabled people tell our stories, we only get to have three stories: ‘Help me, I’m disabled.’ ‘Cure me.’ ‘Kill me.’ We have to tell our own stories.”
Samuel begins documenting his life himself with two cameras mounted on his wheelchair. Over three years, co-directing with his filmmaker father, Dan Habib, "The Ride Ahead" captures the raw and deeply personal moments of Samuel’s transition to adulthood: confronting ableism, seeking a relationship, moving toward independent living, navigating college, managing health crises, and trying to connect with his non-disabled brother.
National statistics paint a stark picture for people like Samuel: 40% of U.S. adults with disabilities (ages 18–64) are employed; one in four live in poverty; and they are half as likely to hold a college degree as their non-disabled peers. Today, an estimated seven million youth with disabilities are aging into adulthood—yet few have access to guidance or representation.
"The Ride Ahead" is a moving portrait of one young man’s determination to live life on his own terms, and an invitation to reimagine what adulthood can look like in an overwhelmingly ableist world. With the support of his loving family and a growing community of friends, Samuel charts a new path forward—his own "ride ahead."
Filmmaker Quotes:
“We created this film and the impact campaign so that millions of young adults with disabilities will feel more seen and heard—and find their own mentors,” said Samuel Habib. “One of the best pieces of advice I received came from Maysoon Zayid: ‘You are not alone. Find your community.’”
“Samuel’s role as co-director, having an all-disabled cast, and hiring disabled people for a majority of the film’s production and outreach has made this a much stronger and authentically-told film,” said Dan Habib. “Even though I’ve been an intimate part of Samuel’s life over the past 25 years, I don’t engage with the world from his point of view as a disabled person. Samuel’s mentors revealed so much to him BECAUSE he is disabled. They wanted to tell him the unvarnished truth.”
“Young people with disabilities who have seen the film so far have told me that they have the same questions as I do about dating, sex, moving out of their own family’s home, how to respond when people talk down to them, work, and college,” Samuel Habib said. “I think this film is going to help disabled young people see more options for their future.”
Watch On Your Schedule: POV "The Ride Ahead" will be available to stream until Sept.19, 2025 at pbs.org, and the PBS app.
Film Awards: "The Ride Ahead" made its world premiere at the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival (2024), where it was a Top 10 Audience Favorite. Other accolades in 2024 include the Special Jury Prize at the Seattle International Film Festival and Breaking Down Barriers Film Festival; the Youth Jury Award nomination at Sheffield DocFest; Best Director at SCAD Savannah Film Festival; Best Feature Documentary at the New Hampshire Film Festival; the Audience Award at Central Scotland DocFest, and it was an official selection at DOC NYC.
Raves include:
“The Ride Ahead steers clear of any of the old tropes around disability. There is humor, drama, and vibrant connections between Samuel and his mentors, like the late Judy Heumann. 'The Ride Ahead' is the authentic representation that the world needs to see.” – Jim LeBrecht, Co-Director of "Crip Camp" and Executive Producer of "The Ride Ahead"
“'The Ride Ahead' gets its urgent, breezy tone from Samuel who, speaking through his electronic voice, offers us a running commentary on his evolving mindset — from being excited to go off to college to worrying that he will not fit in.” – Tim Grierson, Screen International
Credits: A LikeRightNow Films production. The directors are Samuel Habib and Dan Habib. The producer is Dan Habib, and the co-producer is Erica Lupinacci. The cinematographers are Samuel Habib and Dan Habib, and the editor is James Rutenbeck. Music is by Max Avery Lichtenstein and Keith Jones. Animation is by Soul Proprietor Studio. The executive producers are Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder, and Erika Dilday, and Chris White for American Documentary.
