#chasing asylum

[thelowdownunder]

Watch: Eva Orner’s ‘It’s People Like Us’ One of Australia's finest documentary film makers turns her eye to our smartphone obsessed culture in this jolting short feature…

[maxtaro]

Day 2 of film hell, and I saw two documentaries of opposing tones and a feminist bestiality film.

The Eagle Huntress spends a year focusing on 13-year-old Mongolian resident Ashol-Pan, who attempts and succeeds greatly to break the rules given by the elders and do what no female, let alone child in Mongolia has had the nerve or the permission to do - tame an eagle and use it to hunt. It’s risky filmmaking, especially when Ashol-Pan climbs down a cliff to capture her own eaglet. So yes, she is a national treasure and this film is a delight. Hope Blue Sky don’t screw this up, knowing their work outside of Peanuts, although I can already see how they’ll depict the four sexist elders.

Daisy Ridley’s five minutes of narration are less of a publicity stunt than they are a way for children who can follow Rey’s feminist attitude but not subtitles to absorb themselves into Ashol-Pan’s world and goals. Director Otto Bell had the feeling this and a pop song would make his documentary too mainstream, but these aren’t too much of a bother - it’s visually stunning and crowd-pleasing in the best way possible, and your daughters need it more than another Mulan.

The next film I saw dealt with womanhood’s confinements in a vastly different way. Frankly, no film has beared the title “Wild” and completely lived up to it until now. It’s about Ania, a woman who is put through more jobs than she can fit into 24 hours including taking care of her dying grandfather and spending time with friends she only pretends to care about before stepping into her flat in isolation, and she takes care of all of this by literally taking a crap in her office and getting a feral wolf to lick her pussy, because he represents all the freedom she feels she deserves. I saw this on the exact same room as Eagle Huntress, the exact same seat too, and I have absolutely no regrets. Subtle, original, engrossing crap. My kind of indie cinema.

The third was Mum’s choice, Chasing Asylum, a documentary about Australia’s inhumane policy on asylum seekers, and boy, few documentaries have ever made me think “This is why cinema needs documentaries” quite as much as this. It’s all hell. The island of Nauru’s security guards have been claimed to be rapists and pedophiles. Refugees have been resettled to countries of the poorest economy and conditions imaginable. Seekers have been shot dead, had their throats slit or lost an eye. Refugees have been left stranded on boats because the Australian Government shut them down. Prisoners of Nauru aren’t even allowed to wear hats in the canteen. Nauru same Guatanamo indeed.

Although the count on refugee resettlement has eased throughout recent months, the hate has yet to end. Its filmmakers are going out of their way to make sure every human and government official around the world including the UN sees this movie; they even went as far as to project extracts from the film directly onto the Australian high commission. Guys, you really ought to see this or at least take action. It’s important like you couldn’t possibly imagine.

The second photo is of me and Eagle Huntress director Otto Bell. With him was a member of UK distributor Altitude and, to his surprise, the guy who brought him over to meet Ashol-Pan in the first place through an article, who was joined by his mother in the first photo. Chasing Asylum director Eva Orner is pictured to the right of the third photo, during her brilliant Q&A. It’s a big day tomorrow; up next are Liam Neeson as a tree, two of the best films of the year and an rotoscoped document on the first American school massacre!

[succulentsohmy-blog]

Chasing Asylum

Today I watched the documentary Chasing Asylum (dir. Eva Orner, 2016) at a showing at my uni. I missed the first 30 min because I had a class, but still got to see the majority of the film. This documentary is essentially about Australia’s refugee policies, especially those of offshore detention. I consider myself reasonably well versed on this issue, at least more so than the average Australian. This means that this film, while it certainly moved me, wasn’t made for me. It is clear that Chasing Asylum would be most effective on Australians who are less aware of this issue. Unfortunately, from surveying audience reactions from my vantage point near the back of the theatre, I don’t think this film was made for most of the small audience in attendance. There was an air that most of the audience had heard of many of the events described in the film and even recognised some of the tv interviews that were used in the film.

I think the question now for those who, like me, are already aware of the poor conditions faced by those in offshore detention is:

How do we spread this information throughout Australia to the general public?

The people who really need to see this film won’t likely choose to watch it off their own bat. This does not mean, as some activists seem to believe, that we then should shove our message down their throats by badgering them as they try to go about their day. This will only make people with oppositional views more antagonistic and those with more moderate views more unwilling to support any solution we campaign for. (I am talking about ‘we’ in a general sense, I am not affiliated with any social justice group).

To convince those who are opposed to the humanitarian perspective on refugees (compared to the security perspective) we need to understand, truly understand, where they are coming from even if we disagree with their stance. We can not just shut them down or dismiss their opinions as rubbish. Like it or not, we live in a democracy in which people with this view point make up a considerable number. If we can understand where those who are opposing us come from, maybe we can address their underlying concerns, probably the negative effects of globalisation that are effecting Australia’s working class. These are legitimate concerns that aren’t being properly addressed, and are instead being channeled into an anti-refugee/anti-immigration sentiment.

[shameatawheel]

during their protests on manus island, a lot of asylum seekers have been chanting ‘manus same guantanamo’

..hearing that, my heart broke. i felt so ashamed to be a citizen of this country, to be on the same level as that.

[kingslaye]

hey Australians go see Chasing Asylum

[thelowdownunder]

Stephen’s Review – Chasing Asylum

Stephen’s Review – Chasing Asylum

Hidden Cameras Reveal The Devastating Effects Of Australia’s Inhumane Asylum Seeker Policy. Harrowing But Essential Viewing.

“We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they will come.”

There’s an almost cartoon villainy to the menacing words of former Australian Prime Minister John Howard that open Eva Orner’s devastating documentary Chasing Asylum, but the reality…

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[hmuncut]

Gripping documentary aussie documentary ‘Chasing Asylum’ special screening later this month

Gripping documentary aussie documentary ‘Chasing Asylum’ special screening later this month

CHASING ASYLUM

The controversial documentary from filmmaker Eva Orner CHASING ASYLUM is hosting a special screening this month that will include the creator. The feature involves the politically driven detention camps located in the country and the effects it has had on society and those involved. The screening will be on May 22 at the Ritz Cinema followed directly with a Q&A session with the…

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[thelowdownunder]

Chasing Asylum Exclusive Sydney Screening

Chasing Asylum Exclusive Sydney Screening

After its auspicious premiere at the 2016 Human Rights Arts & Film Festival in Melbourne last month, Chasing Asylum has caused a whirlwind of debate about Australia’s disastrous and lethal treatment of refugees and that plight of those escaping persecution to come here.

Our good mates over at FilmInk are bringing film maker Eva Orner’s stunning, shattering and vitally important film to Sydney so…

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