Tin Soldiers

Details

Robbed of movement as children, but not their courage, their love, their hope … Tin Soldiers shines a light on the victims of a debilitating disease, the hunt to find a cure, and the search for those still locked in darkness.

Tin Soldiers is the deeply personal story of people afflicted with one of the world’s most rare diseases and the search to identify those still living in the dark – the victims whose symptoms defy the understanding of those around them.

A compelling tale of courage set against the backdrop of medical science, this is the story of real life ‘Tin Soldiers’ overcoming human frailty to show that within a ravaged body can surge the spirit of a survivor.

Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva (FOP) is a devastating, progressive condition that slowly turns connective tissue into bone ‒ sending its victims into a steady spiral towards complete immobility; as their joints slowly solidify, they become living statues.

The film travels from South African townships to the favelas of Brazil and suburban America, documenting the experiences of patients and their families as they walk differing paths, while sharing a common purpose: to prevail.

Interwoven with the personal stories of challenge and triumph is the narrative of medical science, highlighting the global effort to unlock the mystery that is FOP, as well as the search for those sufferers who remain undiagnosed.

Tin Soldiers is an independent documentary film that embarks on an unprecedented search for the unidentified victims, as it gives voice to FOP warriors in the telling of their stories ‒ shining a light on a little-known disease in some of the world’s most under-served communities.