While navigating daily discrimination, a filmmaker who inhabits and loves her unusual body searches the world for another person like her, and explores what it takes to love oneself fiercely despite the pervasiveness of ableism.
Ella Glendining is a Writer and Director dedicated to telling authentic disabled stories.
She works in both documentary and fiction and has written and directed short films with backing from Film4, the BFI, Arts Council England, Screen South, and the National Paralympic Heritage Trust.
Ella has recently completed her first feature film, ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’, a personal documentary about her search for others with the same rare disability as her, supported by BFI Doc Society, Chicken and Egg Pictures and Creative Scotland, and produced by Janine Marmot.
Ella is currently developing a historical drama feature for the BFI with disabled characters at its core, produced by Janine Marmot. She currently has a short comedy-drama in post-production called ‘Pyramid of Disunion’ which she wrote, co-directed with Jessi Gutch, and starred in, produced by Justin Edgar for Film4.
Ella was a member of the BFI’s Disability Screen Advisory Group from 2018-2022. Ella was named one of Screen International’s Stars of Tomorrow 2020.