- As families across America endure the repeated deployment of loved ones to Iraq and Afghanistan, many attempt to fill the void with Flat Daddies and Heroes on a Stick, life-sized cardboard cutouts of their husbands, wives, sons, and daughters serving overseas. The documentary feature "Flat Daddy" uses these two-dimensional surrogates as a connecting thread to explore the lasting impact of the war on the families left behind.—Nara Garber & Betsy Nagler
- Only 1% of Americans currently serve in the U.S. Military, and their families have borne the disproportionate burden of more than a decade at war. Many have turned to "Flat Daddies" and "Heroes on a Stick," life-sized cardboard cutouts of their husbands, wives, parents and children serving overseas, to ease the pain of repeated deployments. Using these two-dimensional surrogates as a connecting thread, Flat Daddy follows four such families over the course of a year to explore the lasting impact of the war on those left behind.
In Woodbury, Minnesota, Donna Winter and her husband Lowell assume custody of their two- and three-year- old grandsons when their son and daughter-in-law deploy to Iraq. Devin and Dylan initially cry themselves to sleep at night, and Donna is forced to transition from the role of doting grandmother to that of full-time working mom. As the boys gradually adjust to a home very different from the one they left behind in Texas, Donna worries about how they will cope when their parents return for an 18-day leave, only to depart again. Jelissa Román-Stephens of The Bronx used to depend on her husband for everything, but she is surprised at how quickly she becomes self-reliant when left to manage on her own with their four-year-old daughter, Sabrina. When "Papo" comes home on leave, his natural tendency to take charge disrupts the new life his wife and daughter have built in his absence. Can their marriage adapt to Jelissa's newfound independence and a surprise extension of Papo's deployment? Fifteen months after her son, Nacho, was killed in action, Marina Vance of Henderson, Nevada orders a Hero on a Stick in his image. She is determined to honor Nacho by marching with it in the Las Vegas Veterans Day Parade, even though she still often finds herself overcome with grief. Will she eventually be able to move on for the sake of her six surviving children? Andrea Bugbee of remote Caribou, Maine relies on two Flat Daddies to keep four-year-old Jorja and three-year-old Josiah company while she juggles multiple jobs and the responsibilities of two parents. She is overjoyed when her husband, Andrew, returns from Iraq, but real-life Daddy has difficulty reconnecting with his wife and kids. Andrea hopes the family will find its balance again, but she also knows that by the time they do, Andrew will almost certainly be preparing to redeploy.
Employing probing interviews, intimate verité moments, vibrant images of the American landscape and personal photographs taken by the families themselves, Flat Daddy presents four unique perspectives on the war effort and the varied repercussions of deployment; together, they weave a nuanced narrative of the challenges military families face in post-9/11 America.
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