Is There Anybody Out There?
The disabled filmmaker Ella Glendining goes in search of somebody who shares her own uncommon body shape.
I have rarely seen a film as personal as this one. Indeed, it could be said that Ella Glendining's documentary is the cinematic equivalent of an autobiographical book. Is There Anybody Out There? is her first feature following three short films and she has been described as dedicated to telling authentic disabled stories. That this should be her special concern is hardly surprising for two reasons. First, there's the fact that, as she explains early on in the film, she herself was born without hip joints and with extremely short femurs. Secondly, she is deeply desirous of promoting the view that those who share this unusual disability or anything akin to it should be encouraged to accept themselves as they are. That is to say that she regrets the belief that those born this way should, if possible, submit to surgery. The fact that such surgical operations are often very painful (and not single ones either) reinforces her feelings on this issue and all the more so given that it is often the parents who have to decide on their child's behalf when early action is advocated.
This film invites us to share life from Ella's viewpoint. In doing so it makes use of Ella's video diary and of home movies while also moving forward chronologically. Aided by her editor Rachel Roberts, Ella gives us a film which may lack visual polish but which is very adroitly put together. There may be a tendency to linger a shade too much in the last few minutes of the film (a common weakness in documentaries by deeply committed filmmakers), but for the rest Glendening paces the material admirably and ensures that the various elements contained in her film come together smoothly.
A central thread in Is There Anybody Out There? lies in Ella’s online search to seek others who also suffer from the extent to which society values ableism and to find, if possible, somebody whose body is virtually identical to her own. This quest will lead to contact with disabled strangers whom she meets and even takes her out of Britain on a trip to America. There she calls on a make-up artist and on a disabled YouTube star who has become a role model for a boy in Miami. In contrast to that, her visit also enables her to seek out Dr Dror Paley with whom she had earlier spoken on zoom and whose enthusiastic endorsement of surgery for the disabled only strengthens her opposition to his views.
But, if these aspects take up quite a lot of the film, there is also time to reflect on Ella's close friendship with Naomi Bethell who is autistic, to look back on Ella's own childhood with fresh scenes in which she questions her parents and to show something of her personal life (we meet Ella's partner Scott and attend the birth of their child, River). Yet another element comes in as well when the film looks back on footage from an earlier age to stress past insensitivity towards those born disabled (even films are referenced here but this is rather unfair to Tod Browning’s Freaks which was hardly the exploitative shocker that it looks like in the brief extracts shown). This combination may make the documentary sound almost too diverse, but in fact all of it comes together to create exactly what Ella wanted. While she is sympathetic to parents uncertain as to what is the best course to take for their disabled child, there is never any doubt about her own beliefs in the matter. The problem, she states, lies not in being this way but in the reactions that you get from society. If, despite the difficulties that can arise, Ella has learnt to love herself in all her individuality, it becomes evident that she is at one with the belief of her mother (and with that of her childhood doctor), namely that if it isn't broke you don't fix it. Whether or not every viewer concurs, the achievement of Is There Anybody Out There? is that it draws you into Ella's life in such a way that we can see and understand the experiences that have confirmed her in her views. Furthermore, they result in this being a film that is positive and optimistic.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Featuring Ella Glendining, Naomi Bethell, Fran Glendining, Piers Warren, Scott Stansfield, River Glendining Stansfield, Renee McCann, Dylan McCann, Keith Tucker, Dror Paley, Priscilla Miranda, Ricardo Benitez, Charles Floro, Chelsea Zeleny.
Dir Ella Glendining, Pro Janine Marmot, Ph Annemarie Lean-Vercoe, Ed Rachel Roberts, Music Erland Cooper.
Hot Property Films/Tigerlily Films-Conic.
87 mins. UK/USA. 2023. UK Rel: 17 November 2023. Cert. 12A.
