During this quarantine period, I have found myself aimlessly browsing through Netflix, Hulu, ABC, looking for the next show to pour my heart and hours into. Amidst the noise of supernatural horrors, romance, and reality tv shows, I found ‘Stateless’ - a new tv series. Created by Cate Blanchett, ‘Stateless’ depict the lives of four individuals - an Australian national escaping a suburban cult, an Afghan refugee fleeing persecution, a good-hearted scrap worker-turned-guard, and a bureaucrat, which intertwine in the austere setting of Barton detention center. The series is a drama, advertised to be ‘about refugees,’ but it is so much more than that. It blends the heartfelt nature of dramas, the shock of the horror genre, and the danger of thrillers to highlight the atrocity and the stories of survival that lies within the wired fences.
For me, the biggest takeaway is the raw and searing portrayal of detention centers where many refugees around the world stay as they wait for asylum.
’Stateless’ unveils how these centers are not places of administrative detention but prisons. The bleak setting of the wired fence, inside of which small rooms perimeter a barren sand field, combined with the stringent rules governing their daily routines, such as: strict curfews, eating hours, clothing requirements, illustrate how many countries choose to deal with displaced person through incarceration. Many call these centers an intermediary setting as individuals’ asylum status is being processed, yet the series deconstructs these notions, instead portraying the centers as a life sentence. With regards to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) Farid, a refugee character in the series says that they will find any excuse not to give a displaced person asylum because after all,
‘DIMA really means 'Detention Is Marvelous in Australia.’
From left to right: Fayssal Bazzi as Ameer and Claude Jabbour as Farid, stills from Stateless (2020)
Additionally, early in the series, the audience is introduced to the brutality that is used against the detainees. In one harrowing scene, two guards are portrayed to be restraining a refugee man as one guard beats him with a bat. Only one of the guards - Cam, played by Jai Courtney - felt an inch of remorse for the cruelty and even he is bullied by his violence-immune colleagues for his ‘softness’. This scene alone encapsulates the draconian treatment of detainees, giving us a chilling reminder that many of these individuals are almost as persecuted in the countries they fled to as the countries they fled.
This is made more shocking for the audience as the series explore the difficult backgrounds of the imprisoned. One character is the refugee Ameer, played by Fayssal Bazzi, who fled from Taliban persecution in Afghanistan to Australia alongside his wife and young daughters. Bazzi’s character had to first flee to Pakistan to earn money for travel, was swindled by a smuggler profiting from the plight of refugees and then finally reached Australia by boat only to be put into a detention camp. Upon arrival, Ameer poignantly exclaims to his guard
"Please I am not a criminal"
as detainment treats him as one, instead of a displaced person seeking a safe home.
Ameer alongside two detention guards, stills from Stateless (2020)
Another example is the character Sofie Werner, based on the real story of Cornelia Rau and played by the award-winning Yvonne Strahovski, who became caught up with a cult, suffered mental health issues and is detained in the centre after providing authorities with a false identity. Seen as a 'fish of out of the water' in the detainment facility amongst displaced persons, as co-creator Elise McCredie said, Strahovski's character acts as a 'trojan horse' that enables the audience to grasp the unacceptable treatment of human beings in detention centres. As a German-born Australian, Strahovski’s character provides a fresh perspective on the issue of immigration policy, making audiences realize that if the treatment if inexcusable for someone like her then it is inexcusable for everyone.
Yvonne Strahovski as Sofie Werner, stills from Stateless (2020)
On the other hand, what I find captivating about the series is how it also portrays the difficult position of guards, like Cam, and bureaucrats, such as: Clare Kowitz, played by Asher Keddie, who have to tackle the immigration issue with policy. The series reveals Cam’s internal struggle between having to comply by job standards, which often require draconian treatment of others, and his own ethical standards. Similarly, it portrays Clare’s battle to protect the government’s image from bad press by hiding the centers’ horrors and fighting anti-detention protesters, which later on distorts her own moral identity. By offering this contrary perspective, 'Stateless' also enables the audience to comprehend the true complexities of immigration policies.
From left to right: Asher Keddie as Clare Kowitz, Jai Courtney as Cam Sandford, scene of anti-detention protests, stills from Stateless (2020)
Entertainment is a powerful way to spread awareness and understanding of real issues. With the brilliant acting of the cast, showing the guards’ ruthless treatment and the detainees’ desperation to escape the torture, ’Stateless’ successfully does this, serving as an exposition on the horrors of detainment camps. At the same time, through the plot shifting between the different perspectives of the four individuals, the series offers a nuanced outlook in the Global Displacement crisis, 'reigniting the conversation in a nonjudgmental way.' (Cate Blanchett)
Watch the trailer below.
It is streaming now on ABC iView and will be streaming soon on Netflix worldwide later on this year. Watch 'Stateless' and help spread this important conversation.
Alisha Bakrie
Sources:
'Showrunner Elise McCredie is behind the ABC's new star studded series Stateless,' Lauren Caroll Harris, The Screen Show
'Stateless explores the human cost of Australia's immigration regime,' Michael Idato, The Sydney Morning Herald
Stateless | Official Trailer, ABC TV & iView, Youtube