Dr. Larry Sargent was 11 when he decided on his medical specialty.
“I knew I was going to be a plastic surgeon before I knew I was going to be a doctor,” the Chattanooga-based physician said in a phone interview. “I knew that, and everything from then on was focused on that goal. There was never any question of whether I would go to college and medical school.”
That early realization wasn’t just about choosing a career, he said, but following a calling.
“Nobody in my family is a physician, much less a surgeon, so it was something I was meant to be,” he said.
Some of his life’s work over the past 40 years can be seen in a new documentary, “Beautiful Faces,” which premiered this week on Tubi, a free streaming platform. The 94-minute film was directed by Dagan W. Beckett, an Emmy Award-winning director and producer from Chattanooga.
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“Beautiful Faces” follows the journey of three patients who represent different facets of craniofacial care, which has become Sargent’s subspecialty. Filmmakers checked in with two patients who had already undergone reconstruction. The film “shows how they moved on with their lives and the impact (surgery) had on their lives,” Sargent said.
Beautiful Faces Official Trailer from BECKETT MEDIA on Vimeo.
Josh Bennett, a singer and actor, was born with a cleft lip and palate. In the movie trailer, he credits Sargent’s surgical expertise with giving him the ability and confidence to become a performer.
Greer Cofield, now a teenager, was a trauma patient whose skull was crushed by a horse when she was 5.
Beth Wilson was born with a rare genetic condition called Pfeiffer syndrome.
“What happens is that the skull fuses or closes too soon (in the womb) and the face doesn’t grow,” Sargent said. “It’s very difficult to correct” and requires multistage operations as the child grows.
Beth’s case, being the most recent, shows “the complexity of the things you have to do and the advances in technology we’ve used,” he said, citing 3D imagery, 3D-printed skull replicas and bone-stretching devices to stimulate growth as examples.
Even as it highlights Sargent’s operative care, the film shows how the patients and their families deal emotionally with their life-changing diagnoses.
“It’s very inspirational and emotional,” he said.
The documentary was filmed over a year and a half and has won awards in various film festivals in the past year. Its July release on Tubi coincides with Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month.
Sargent has earned international recognition for his expertise and was featured in a previous documentary, “Faces in the Forest,” about a mission trip to Peru to treat children with craniofacial conditions. That film aired on TLC, Discovery Channel and National Geographic, he said. He also made appearances on the former syndicated talk show “The Doctors” to highlight advances in craniofacial care.
Beckett said he was surprised by the candor of the patients and their families in the film.
“It talks about Larry Sargent’s legacy, but really it’s told through the lens of these families and their perspectives,” he said by phone. “If you’re a caretaker or parent who’s ever dealt with the loss of a loved one or any kind of guilt or grief, this movie is for you.”
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.