The Superhuman strand continues its fascinating insight into some of the world’s most extraordinary people as they attempt to find happiness and acceptance in a world where they stand out from the crowd.
Superhuman: The World’s Smallest People features little people who will never grow to full adult height and examines the challenges they face in day to day life.
The documentary visits the world’s smallest people out and about and in their homes as they explain how they’ve come to terms with being Superhuman and how they deal with everything from work and health to finding love.
The programme meets Britain’s shortest man, Michael, who, at two foot 11 inches tall is the same height as the average three-year-old. Michael was born with a rare condition that gave him short limbs, he has feet the size of a one-year-old and tiny three inch hands that he can’t clench properly.
But, in spite of his condition, the programme reveals how Michael leads a relatively normal and happy life with a regular office job, an average-sized wife and seven-year-old son. The film follows Michael as he plays with his four-foot-tall son who towers above him.
The film also features He Ping Ping from Inner Mongolia who is two foot five inches tall and weighs just eight kilograms – the same as the average one-year-old.
He Ping Ping, 19, is a primordial dwarf whose condition affects less than one in 10 million people and his growth retardation started before he was even born.
Superhuman: The World’s Smallest People joins a man from the Guinness Books of Records as he travels across the world to measure He Ping Ping. Becoming officially recognised as the world’s smallest man is potentially his route into the limelight and out of poverty.
The documentary also follows the Dwarf Athletics Association Games where two four foot six inches tall British men are competing to be the fastest little person on the planet.
Azi Zahed tells the programme how, like most 25-year-olds, she likes to dress to kill but due to her short stature, she has to check out children’s clothes to find outfits that fit. And the programme follows Tanyalee, a tiny comedienne who faces her demons by cracking jokes about her height on the comedy circuit in Las Vegas.
And, using state of the art graphics, the film explains how the human body is affected by restricted growth, what the dangers are and explores the medical solutions.
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