The fatherhood wound is deep and lasts a lifetime. It's inflicted by the absence of a father in a child's life.
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People deal with the hurt in different ways.
Metallica frontman James Hetfield dealt with it by channelling his anger into music.
Hetfield is one of a group of men director Justin Hunt spoke to for his award-winning documentary Absent, exploring the role of fathers and what happens when they go missing.
"When we don't get the validation and questions answered from our fathers, we go out into the world and try and get the validation from there," Hunt says over the phone from Phoenix, Arizona.
"People come from the same wound but deal with it in different ways.
"James [Hetfield] turned his anger against his father into music."
Hunt, who directed the award-winning documentary American Meth, says he has learned a great deal talking with Hetfield, boxer Johnny Tapia, authors John Eldredge and Richard Rohr and fitness model Robin Decker.
"People go to the movies to escape for an hour and a half, but this film is about making reality better in an hour and a half," Hunt, himself a father, says.
"It's not a movie, it's a movement. The film's about making life better for people."
Australian research shows a strong association between absence of a father and poor academic achievement, low self-esteem, criminal behaviour, delinquency, substance use and abuse, social, sexual and psychological problems, depression and suicidal behaviour.
Hetfield's truck driver father Virgil left the family when Hetfield was 13 and his mum died three years later.
Hunt says although the documentary focuses on well-known men, the fatherhood wound affects women as much as it does men.
Interviewing for the documentary has also helped Hunt better understand the importance of his role as a dad.
"I just have to understand they [the kids] are in deep need of knowing that they are loved and validated," he says.
What are his favourite moments as a dad?
"When I get to share a life lesson with my kids and see in their eyes that they understand it," he says.
The Dads4Kids charity is sponsoring the Bring Back Fatherhood tour, which includes bringing Hunt to Australia to promote Absent and talk about the underlying messages.
Entry to Absent is free and Hunt will be available for a Q&A at the end of each screening.
• Nowra screening: June 16 at Nowra City Church from 6.30pm.
• Wollongong screening: June 23 at Lighthouse Church at 6pm. Phone 0418 225 212 for more details.