''Stateless'' is an Australian television drama series launched on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on 1 March 2020. The six episodes were released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on 8 July 2020. The series is partly inspired by the real-life story of

Cornelia Rau Cornelia Rau is a German and Australian citizen who was unlawfully detained for a period of ten months in 2004 and 2005 as part of the Australian Government's mandatory detention program. Her detention became the subject of a government inquiry w ...

, an Australian who was unlawfully detained under the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

mandatory detention Immigration detention is the policy of holding individuals suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorized arrival, as well as those subject to deportation and removal until a decision is made by immigration authorities to grant a vi ...

program.

Synopsis

The series centres on four strangers in an immigration detention centre in the Australian desert: an airline hostess escaping a suburban cult, an Afghan refugee fleeing persecution, a young Australian father escaping a dead-end job and a bureaucrat caught up in a national scandal. When their lives intersect they are pushed to the brink of sanity, yet unlikely and profound emotional connections are made amongst the group. After the sixth and final episode, the epilogue states the program was based upon true stories about Australian immigration detention.

Cast

Episodes

Release

''Stateless'' had its world premiere at the

70th Berlin International Film Festival The 70th annual Berlin International Film Festival took place from 20 February to 1 March 2020. It was the first under the leadership of new Berlin Film Festival heads, business administration director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director C ...

, in the new Series section, along with '' Mystery Road'' Series 2. The Australian television channel

premiered the series in Australia soon afterwards.

released the series globally.

Awards and nominations

The script for Episode 6 by Elise McCredie was shortlisted for the Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting at the 2021 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards.

References

External links

* {{Tony Ayres 2020 Australian television series debuts Television shows set in South Australia Television shows filmed in Australia Television shows filmed in East Timor Australian Broadcasting Corporation original programming Television series by Matchbox Pictures Television series created by Tony Ayres English-language television shows