Flathead

A luminous portrait of faith, friendship and working-class life in rural Australia

Set in the regional town of Bundaberg, Flathead is an evocative docufiction that blurs the boundaries between observation and storytelling. Australian filmmaker Jaydon Martin follows Cass Cumerford, an ageing and ailing man returning to his long-abandoned hometown, and Andrew Wong, a young second-generation Chinese Australian caring for his late father’s fish and chip shop, the Busy Bee. Shot in luminous black and white, the film captures their intersecting lives with tenderness and restraint, occasionally shifting to colour to echo the flicker of memory and emotion.

Cass, once caught up in the chaos of drugs and hardship, faces his mortality while seeking solace in spiritual rebirth. His encounters with Baptist preachers and Buddhist healers mirror his search for meaning and redemption. Meanwhile, Andrew wrestles with grief and expectations, caught between filial duty and his own aspirations for strength and control. As their paths cross, both men find in each other a quiet understanding that transcends words.

Through the rhythm of daily labour, from farms to factories, and the voices of Bundaberg’s workers, the film pays homage to the invisible backbone of Australia’s economy. Gentle, reflective and deeply humane, Flathead becomes a meditation on faith, masculinity and the endurance of the human spirit — a tribute to those who keep moving even when the world stands still.