Is There Anybody Out There, 2023.
Directed by Ella Glendining.
SYNOPSIS:
Filmmaker Ella Glendining conducts a global search for someone with a body that looks like hers, and explores what it takes to love yourself as a disabled person in an ableist world.
Ella Gledining’s powerful documentary is a rallying call for how society views people with disabilities and how individuals view themselves.
The director and writer was born with a rare condition that left her with no hip bones and short femurs. As she says, her body is extremely unusual, and during the 4-year making of Is There Anybody Out There? she sets out to find others with the same disability.
A humanistic and deeply personal look at the struggles associated with life-long disability, the film puts the individual at the forefront of the story. Glendining is an engaging presenter and reporter, fielding personal accounts with warmth and humour. Optimistic and engaged, it raises lots of questions about how disability is viewed in contemporary society.
Authenticity is the key to Glendining’s work. She has produced and made several short films about disability and soon she is set to move into feature films with work underway on her BFI-funded film Curiosities of Fools. A historical drama about a 17th-century court dwarf, it also looks at community and overcoming internalised ableism.
Taking the focus away from convoluted medical analysis, and instead concentrating on the people experiencing disabilities gives the film a lasting emotive power. The film also challenges ableist society and a world which struggles to see the person beyond the condition. In her words it’s ” about living in a world where you’re seen as less than human – and what it takes to love yourself fiercely despite this.”
During her quest to find others facing similar challenges, Glendining uses social media to connect. In America, she discovers several people with conditions like her own. One of these, a hair and make-up artist, has shared a similar life experience of disability. The two exchange experiences and discussion, highlighting how difficult it can be finding acceptance with one’s place in the world.
The story takes an unexpected twist when in 2018 Glendining becomes pregnant with her son River. Rather than derailing the story, she makes it part of the central focus. And if that wasn’t enough to be getting on with, the covid-19 pandemic was just around the corner. That seriously impacted on travel plans, particularly a planned trip to India, but it couldn’t help to add another layer of material to the story.
Where Glendining’s film succeeds is in showing how all humanity has its differences and difficulties. People with disabilities are often ‘othered’ within mainstream society and seen only in terms of their condition. This can also be true for anyone othered as a result of their gender, race, sex or beliefs. The film shows the positivity of meeting people, conversing, and sharing ideas and experiences. The film is also a great celebration of the resilience of disabled people, and the fact that we are all people no matter what the differences are.
Overall, Is There Anybody Out There? succeeds in its quest to humanise disabled people for a wider audience, and introduces Glendining as an important voice in storytelling with soul. Optimistic and engaged, it raises lots of questions about how disability is viewed in contemporary society.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert W Monk
