This is an exciting time in the restoration of fatherhood in Australia. To quote Bill Biddle, manager of film distribution for Koorong: “Interest in Absent is exploding across Australia”. Many venues booked are preparing for overflow areas with extra screens as interest gets stronger. The Facebook page is up to 461 likes and Koorong, the national distributor of the Absent movie, received over 900 click-throughs on the Absent logo of one of their emails. In email marketing terms, that is like raising the dead.

The official Australian red carpet ABSENT Premiere takes place at

2.30pm for a 3pm start
Thursday 13 June
Dendy’s Theatre in Newtown,
Sydney. (Please RSVP to Blake Richards by 5pm Wednesday 12 June to secure a seat. Blake Richards – P: 0488 376 999 E: blake@kickstartbusinesses.com )

If you have friends in Sydney, please let them know about the opportunity to see this groundbreaking movie about the importance of fathers.

In the middle of all the excitement of the ‘Get Fatherhood Back’ Tour, I received a very interesting request for an interview from a woman who is doing a study about the unique characteristics of Australian men. I am always suspicious of such requests. Certain nameless individuals would like to list axe murderers, liars, cheats and charlatans as showing well-known characteristics of Australian men. After all, it was a famous Australian woman Germaine Greer who said,

“I think that testosterone is a rare poison.”

Many of her ramblings are not at all flattering to the male of the species.

Such thoughts were going through my mind as I hesitantly said ‘yes’ to an interview even though, as one of my American friends says,  I was ‘busier than a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs’. Fortunately, it turned out that this lady is rather sympathetic to men. She is working with a large advertising agency, sowing back into the community by sponsoring this study. She was quite adamant that men are not getting a fair go in our highly feminised society, and in many ways I would agree with her.

Her stated goal is to interview 150 men. Half are well-known figures, the other half are not. She was fascinated to hear me say that womanhood is almost a given, whereas fatherhood and manhood must be passed on by fathers or father figures to young men so that they can become who they are meant to be as fathers and men. Interestingly she had already observed this reality among her many interviews.

The good news is that people are beginning to ask questions about the importance and the need for the restoration of fatherhood.

One last piece of good news: A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Brett Murray, who has written a book called Make Bullying History. Brett has spoken in schools and seminars all over Australia and is a passionate dad and acutely aware of the masculinity crisis. He finished his email to me with this simple phrase, ‘The tide is turning’. I can’t help but feel he could be right.

Lovework

Please find a full list of the ABSENT Movie screening dates in News and Info.

The ‘Get Fatherhood Back’ Tour is covering Australia’s major population centres. We hope you are able to come along and meet Justin Hunt the film producer.

We really need your help to publicise this tour on your Facebook page and in your local community. You could even write a letter about Absent coming to Australia to your local newspaper. Our goal is to kickstart a national conversation on the importance of fatherhood.

Many hands make light work. Together we can make a difference!

Yours for the restoration of fatherhood,

Warwick Marsh

PS. Please check out the ‘Get Fatherhood Back Tour’ dates

http://www.absentmovie.com.au/#!screen-times/cbeg

Hopefully you can come along to one of the screenings.

If you would like to have a local screening of the Absent movie in your community, linked in with the tour, you will have to get your application in before 11 June.