RSSQ&A with Justin Hunt
Justin Hunt, a 1999 Mesa State College graduate, will screen his documentary “Absent” on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at Colorado Mesa University. The film is about the effect “absent"fathers have on families.
Former Grand Junction resident and 1999 Mesa State College graduate Justin Hunt will screen his latest documentary, “Absent” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, in the Recital Hall of Colorado Mesa University’s Moss Performing Arts Center, 1100 North Ave.
The 87-minute documentary is about the effect “absent” fathers have on today’s families, said Hunt, who now lives in Phoenix.
Hunt will come to Grand Junction for the screening and participate in a question-and-answer session after the showing.
In a recent phone interview, Hunt spoke about why he made this documentary, who he talked to and what he’s been up to since graduating from college more than 10 years ago.
Melinda Mawdsley: When did you make “Absent”?
Justin Hunt: I started shooting in December 2007. I showed it first in August 2010. I shot it, wrote it, directed it and produced it. It just came out on DVD in September and was accepted into 15 film festivals in seven counties. We won the Marbella International Film Festival in Spain, Thanet International Film Festival in England and were a finalist at the Radar Hamburg Film Festival in Germany. We also got into the Boston Film Festival. That’s not to say how great we are. It’s to show how relevant this topic is and how important it is to so many people around the world.
Mawdsley: Was it difficult to find people to talk openly about having an absent father?
Hunt: It wasn’t hard to find people to talk about it. It helped people realize things about themselves in the midst of the interviews.
Mawdsley: Who are some of the people you talked to?
Hunt: James Hetfield, vocalist and guitarist with Metallica, boxer Johnny Tapia, Christian author John Eldredge, who wrote “Wild at Heart,” prostitutes, inner-city high school students in Miami. ... With all of them, it’s just me sitting there with the camera. They forget they are making a movie.
Mawdsley: Was this topic a personal one for you?
Hunt: (Laughing) I’ve probably given my dad a complex. I actually have a great relationship with both my parents. My mom lives in Grand Junction. It’s not that. Both of these films (Hunt made “American Meth” in 2007, a documentary about the U.S. methamphetamine epidemic), I don’t have a personal relationship with. They were just concepts worth tackling. Storytelling is my skill set, and they were topics I felt needed addressed. I’ve been blessed with how successful both have been thus far.
Tickets to view “Absent” cost $10 and will be available at the door and at absentmovie.com, which also has a trailer and information about the documentary.
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