#chasing asylum

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.

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).

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…

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…

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…