Saving Face is the story of how in the horror of two World Wars a new, life saving branch of surgery was born at the delicate hands of some very inventive Kiwis. During WWI Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup was home to Kiwi surgeons Sir Harold Gillies and Henry Pickerill, both determined, brilliant men tasked with rebuilding the shattered faces of wounded soldiers. These were the pioneers of a new form of surgery - reconstructive plastic surgery. It had been attempted in crude form for centuries but during WWI Gillies and Pickerill developed and standardised daring new techniques. They knew their work was revolutionary but little did they realise they were laying the foundation of a surgical discipline that would transform lives of millions in times of war and peace. In WWII two more Kiwis and Gillies proteges, Sir Archibald McIndoe and Rainsford Mowlem, furthered their mentor's work by rebuilding the faces of downed airmen and other servicemen who had been ravaged by fire and mortars. Director, John Hagen says this was the number 8 wire approach at its best. "It can be a bit of a cliche to talk about 'Kiwi ingenuity' but these four guys were the real deal, they took their existing surgical know-how and rose to the extraordinary challenges they faced." Through interviews with family members, experts, and former patients treated during WWII the documentary gives a rare insight into the motivations, successes, trials and tribulations of these four extraordinary surgeons.