- Welcome to POV.
I'm Pete Schwaba,
host of PBS Wisconsin's Director's Cut.
Everyone is unique, and there is no such thing as normal.
So says one of the characters in tonight's film
Is There Anybody Out There?
This documentary explores ableism,
which is the discrimination
against someone with disabilities
in favor of someone without,
and how one woman with a rare condition
overcomes the physical and emotional challenges
that come with such prejudice.
The woman is Ella Glendining,
and she is the director and subject of this film.
Glendining suffers from a condition
called proximal femoral focal deficiency.
She was born without hip bones and short femurs.
It affects her mobility, but other than that,
she lives a fairly normal life.
Glendening says it is not the physical disabilities
that cause insecurities.
It's the ableism from those around her: like other mothers,
or those in the film and TV business
that cause a sense of isolation within her
that she's dealt with during her life.
Her goal in making her documentary
was to make a film that was a battle cry for disabled people
but that didn't alienate the nondisabled.
From a narrative standpoint,
Glendining decided to travel to America
to find others in similar situations,
and ideally to find someone
whose body looked just like hers.
In talking about her film recently,
she says she didn't think she'd find someone exactly like her,
and that it was more about the exercise of meeting
and connecting with others.
Her trip to America was not only cathartic
for Glendining the person;
the journey helped her construct a narrative as a director.
In a recent interview,
Glendining says she realized through shooting
that she was not interested
in talking about disability on its own,
but rather about characters
who have stories about their disabilities.
In finding the message of her story with the help of others,
she learned to accept herself
and now wants others who deal with ableism
to love their bodies as much as she loves hers.
If all this self-searching and advocacy
wasn't a busy enough plot,
during production, Glendining found out she was pregnant.
This added a new challenge as she became quite sick
due to the pregnancy.
Self-conscious about her appearance,
Glendining had to overcome her own ego
to allow the director in her
to shoot a more compelling documentary.
Glendining is proud of the fact
that her film brought civil rights issues to the forefront
for those with disabilities.
More and more, the disabled are now mentioned
when the subject of diversity comes up.
Is There Anybody Out There? was a smash on the festival circuit,
including at Sundance.
It received a slew of nominations and several wins,
including one at the Milwaukee Film Festival last year.
So to answer the question of your title, Ella,
there are people out here, and we can't wait to see your film.
Is There Anybody Out There?
starts now on PBS Wisconsin, your home for independent film.