from the land down under ....

July 2008 

Movie Review:

The Jammed

By Gertrude Stipe

Aussie filmmakers and human rights activists turned the spotlight on human trafficking in Australia at last month’s jam-packed screening of The Jammed organized by the Advance Public and Charitable Network (www.advance.org), together with the Australian Mission to the United Nations (www.australiaun.org) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime www.unodc.org), at the United Nations in New York.

Directed by multi-award winning Australian Dee McLachlan, The Jammed features Veronica Sywak as a reluctant amateur investigator drawn into Melbourne ’s criminal underworld of human trafficking. In her efforts to assist a Chinese woman search for her missing daughter, Sywak’s feisty character Ashley Hudson finds herself fighting simultaneously for the lives of three young girls (Emma Lung, Saskia Burmeister and Sun Park as Crystal, Vanya and Rubi) held captive and forced into prostitution,while also struggling to raise aware-ness and action within the local authorities on the difference between consenting sex-workers and young girls terrorised into forced prostitution. 

Inspired by court transcripts and actual events, The Jammed is both a suspenseful socio-political thriller, and an eye-opener into a criminal world that exists beneath the polished veneer of modern urban communities.

When first released, The Jammed screened briefly in only one Melbourne cinema and seemed destined to go straight-to-DVD. However, despite its small budget ($600,000) and limited distribution, the film received critical acclaim and has been lauded by human rights activists as a timely expose of Australian policy towards human trafficking.

In his introduction to the film, Australian Ambassador to the United Nations, HE The Honourable Robert Hill, praised Aussie filmmakers and Aussie movie-audiences for propelling The Jammed into the international spotlight. Ambassador Hill reiterated the Australian government’s dedication to the fight against human trafficking, and suggested that Hudson’s journey in The Jammed reflects the learning curve often experienced by governments as they step up to fight the issue.

According to humantraffiking.org – an anti-human trafficking website - Australia is but one of many destination countries. Australian authorities believe that traffickers operate at both the local and international level, targeting East Asia, South East Asia, and Eastern Europe with the majority of victims trafficked from China, Korea and Thailand. Victims are often voluntary migrants who fall prey to exploitation and deception upon arrival in Australia. Typically, victims have documents and identities stolen from them, and will be terrorized into paying back extortionate “debts” through forced labour, including prostitution. It is not uncommon for victims to be, drugged, raped and assaulted by their captors. There are many causes of human trafficking to Australia. An Australian NGO  - Project Respect - argues that the demand for trafficked women in Australia is fuelled by a number of factors, including: 1) a lack of women in Australia prepared to work as prostitutes; 2) “Customer” demand for women seen as compliant; 3) “Customer” demand for women who they can be violent towards; and 4) Ideas that Asian women have certain qualities, for example that they are more compliant and will accept higher levels of violence.

Human trafficking is illegal in Australia under the Commonwealth Criminal Code, carrying penalties of up to 15 years in prison (with up to 25 years for slavery and up to seven for, deceptive recruitment). Since 2004, the Australian Federal Police have opened 112 investigations and charged 22 ofenders with human trafficking. The Australian Government has established anti-human trafficking agreements with Cambodia, Burma, Laos, and Thailand to coordinate investigations and improve cooperation. In 2007, the U.S. Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report placed Australia in Tier 1 for fully complying with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act’s minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.

The Australian Government works to provide assistance for victims of human trafficking by funding two “Return and Reintegration” programs. One is for all trafficked women and children, and the second solely for Thai victims. Trafficking victims who cooperate with authorities in investigations and prosecutions of their traffickers qualify for a temporary visa and a range of social services.  Those who have held the temporary visa for two years can qualify for a permanent visa. However, temporary visas have been granted since January 2004, but no victims have yet qualified for a permanent visa. The visa program also provides victims with shelters, counseling, food and living allowances. As of January 2007, 35 trafficking victims have received these services.

There are no concrete figures on the number of trafficking victims in Australia. However, Project Respect estimates that up to 1,000 victims are currently under debt bondage.

The United Nations screening of The Jammed was followed by a panel discussion featuring actress Veronica Sywak and activists Simone Monasebien (Chief of the New York office of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime) and Elaine Pearon (Research Coordinator for AusAID’s Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Programme). Foremost among audience questions was “How can ordinary people help combat human trafficking?” In response, audience members were encouraged to convey their concerns to their local government representatives. The audience was also encouraged to be diligent anti-trafficking consumers who double check that the products they purchase come from factories and industries that comply with international employment standards and laws.

In closing, Ambassador Hill noted the importance in a film like The Jammed in encouraging audiences to ask “important questions.”

To learn more about the movie head to www.thejammed.com/

Brooke Satchwell Heads to the Big Screen

Former ‘Neighbours’ starlet Brooke Satchwell, will be seen on the big screen for the first time, landing her first movie role. She has been cast in the new Australian movie ‘Subdivision’, which will also star Gary Sweet.

Satchwell will soon be seen on the small screen, with her new show ‘Canal Road’ to be premiered on Channel 9 this year.

***Update – ‘Canal Road’ premiered in Australia to poor ratings and has since been put ‘on hold’, which doesn’t bode well for the future of the show.

Beautiful Kate

Aussie star Rachel Griffiths has been cast in a new Australian movie. Titled ‘Beautiful Kate’, it will also star Bryan Brown, and be directed by Rachel Ward, who is also Brown’s wife.

Filming will scheduled to start in South Australia in June.

Hollywood Bubs

Aussie golden girl Cate Blanchett has given birth to her third child. Ignatius Matin Upton was born Sunday 13^th April in Sydney. He Cate and her husband Andrew Upton’s third boy – they already have sons Dashiell, 6, and Roman, 3.

Nicole Kidman and country star husband Keith Urban also welcomed their first baby Sunday Rose Kidman Urban born on Monday the 7th of July .

Another Aussies Joins Hugh in X Men Sequal

Peter O’Brien, husband to Miranda Otto, has landed a role in ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverwine’. Currently being filmed in Sydney, O’Brien will play Wolverine’s father. Hugh Jackman is reprising his role as the title character.

Emilie de Ravin in Johnny Depp Blockbuster

Aussie starlet Emilie de Ravin, currently seen on the small screens playing Claire in ‘Lost’, has landed a supporting role in the new blockbuster ‘Public Enemies’. The film will star Johnny Depp and Christian Bale, and will also star another Aussie – David Wenham.

An Aussie in Paris

10 year old Aussie Jordana Beatty has won the lead role of Eloise in the new film ‘Eloise in Paris’. She will star opposite Uma Thurman and will film the movie in Paris and New York.

New Australian Horror Movie

This year’s winner of Most Popular New Make Talent Logie, Lincoln Lewis, has scored a role in the new Aussie horror flick ‘5 Blue Dogs’. The ‘Home and Away’ star will play a drug dealer mixed up with the wrong crowd. Filming is still in pre-production, and will start shooting very soon.

Transformed: Aussie to replace Aussie in Transformers Sequal

Former ‘Home and Away’ star Isabel Lucas, who is currently dating ‘Entourage’ hottie Adrian Grenier, has scored a role on the ‘Transformers’ sequel. The role was turned down by fellow Aussie Rachael Taylor, who starred in the first movie.Taylor will be seen on Aussie screens though in ‘Shutter’ alongside Joshua Jackson of ‘Dawson’s Creek’ fame, and is about to start filming on ‘Cedar Boys’ which will be filmed in Sydney.