[Short Documentary] Filmed over 5 years, “Fight Forever” follows a young man with 50% lung capacity as he battles to become a professional MMA fighter, and prove his life will not be defined by a fatal genetic disease.
[Synopsis] Starting in 2013, we follow young amateur fighter Danny Ferrone as he battles a fatal genetic disease (Cystic Fibrosis) and 50% lung capacity to reach his dream of becoming a professional MMA fighter.
Intimately filmed over the next 5 years, we watch his personal and professional goals slowly shift, and feel his painful realization that despite everything he’s put into it, going pro may not be in the cards.
With an uncertain future, and grappling to reconcile the precious years he spent training, Danny signs up for one more tournament - and shows us what it means to fight forever.
Watch the Trailer
Danny is first and foremost a friend. I knew him growing up, but I really had no idea what Cystic Fibrosis was, or how it affected him - he was just my neighbor who loved soccer. It was only later, in college and after, that we reconnected, and I started to understand the gravity of what I learned was a fatal disease.
And the unbelievable willpower he had to not just survive, but live life on his own terms.
This was 10 years ago - the same time I was leaving Chicago for Los Angeles to teach myself film. And before I left, I told Danny that, when I felt confident I could do his story justice - I would tell it, and we would share it with the world in hopes that we could make a difference in it for others who need a ray of hope to keep fighting. Because Danny is a fighter in every sense of the word - and he represents the best of the human spirit in the most difficult of circumstances. His will to fight the odds, to achieve his dreams, and to burn as brightly as he can while he has the time is literally awe-inspiring.
We started filming together in 2013.
But this film is far more than a rallying cry to combat a rare disease - it’s a banner of inspiration to fight our own demons. To find something that gives our own lives meaning, and cling onto it with everything we’ve got...because eventually time will run out, and we all turn inward asking: did I do enough with what I was given?
Cystic Fibrosis is a fatal genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive systems, where an overproduction of mucus continuously builds in your lungs, filling them with fluid until you eventually drown and die. The average lifespan of someone with CF is currently 37 years old.
To survive on a daily basis, people with Cystic Fibrosis do an assortment ‘breathing treatments’ and take medicines to effectively break up this mucus and get it out of their lungs.
There is no cure yet - but as Danny shows us, that does not mean there is no hope.
Featuring: Danny Ferrone
Production
Director / Cinematographer / Producer: Karl Stelter
Post Production
Editor: Scott Edwards | Married to Giants
Colorist: James Knott | Big Game Color
Audio Post: Ridgeline Sound
Online: Jonny Ames
Special Thanks
Dr. Steven Boas | Chicago Pulmonary Specialists
Richard Abraham | Maximus Muay Thai
Mike Cimmarusti | Illinois Grappling
Paul Carnicella | Carnicella MMA
