Waking Up the Nation

Last updated

Waking up the Nation: The Freedom Bus
Directed by Agostino Imondi
Written byAgostino Imondi
Produced byAgostino Imondi, Adam Ceremuga
Music by Geoffrey Datson
Distributed byVideoTeppista
Release dates
  • June 2002 (2002-06)(Australia)
  • January 2006 (2006-01)(Germany)
Running time
48 min.
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Waking up the Nation: The Freedom Bus is an Australian documentary film shot in 2002 and internationally released in 2005, directed by Agostino Imondi. [1]

Contents

Plot

The documentary tells the story of a group of Australian human rights activists, who travel on an old bus, the Freedom Bus, to visit asylum seekers imprisoned in immigration detention centres across the country, and to educate Australian communities on their 12,000-kilometres-journey. As the first civilians, they visited the detainees in some of the most remote parts of the country, like the detention centres in Port Hedland, and Curtin, and managed to expose some of the human rights violations committed against the asylum seekers in the camps.

Production and release

The film was shot Guerilla filmmaking style during the months of January and February 2002. A small funding for the film was provided by private donors. An early 80-minutes version of this film, aimed at local political activist groups, was released in Australia in 2002. In 2005 the film was re-edited for international audiences, and had a limited theatrical and DVD release in 2006. Segments of the film were also used for the BBC-documentary "Australia's Pacific Solution" [2]

Additional footage from the documentary was also used by Amnesty International as part of the Make Some Noise campaign.

Some of the film's footage was also heavily used by anti-racism advocacy groups in Australia for their campaigns. [3] [4] [5]

Festivals

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre</span> Immigration detention facility in South Australia

The Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre (IRPC) was an Australian immigration detention facility near the village of Woomera in South Australia. It was opened in November 1999 in response to an increase in unauthorised arrivals, which had exceeded the capacity of other detention facilities. It was originally intended to hold 400 people, however at its peak in April 2000 it had nearly 1,500 detainees. After ongoing public pressure in response to several well publicised riots from 2000, accusations of human rights abuses, and capacity issues, the centre closed in April 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific Solution</span> Australian asylum policy from 2001

The Pacific Solution is the name given to the government of Australia's policy of transporting asylum seekers to detention centres on island nations in the Pacific Ocean, rather than allowing them to land on the Australian mainland. Initially implemented from 2001 to 2007, it had bipartisan support from the Coalition and Labor opposition at the time. The Pacific Solution consisted of three central strategies:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian immigration detention facilities</span> Facilities used to detain people under Australias policy of mandatory immigration detention

Australian immigration detention facilities comprise a number of different facilities throughout Australia, including the Australian territory of Christmas Island. Such facilities also exist in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, namely the Nauru Regional Processing Centre and the Manus Regional Processing Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nauru Regional Processing Centre</span> Offshore Australian immigration detention facility

The Nauru Regional Processing Centre is an offshore Australian immigration detention facility in use from 2001 to 2008, from 2012 to 2019, and from September 2021. It is located on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru and run by the Government of Nauru. The use of immigration detention facilities is part of a policy of mandatory detention in Australia.

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 visa and release them into the community, or to repatriate them to their country of departure. Mandatory detention refers to the practice of compulsorily detaining or imprisoning people who are considered to be illegal immigrants or unauthorized arrivals into a country. Some countries have set a maximum period of detention, while others permit indefinite detention.

<i>In This World</i> 2002 British film

In This World is a 2002 British docudrama directed by Michael Winterbottom. The film follows two young Afghan refugees, Jamal Udin Torabi and Enayatullah, as they leave a refugee camp in Pakistan for a better life in London. Since their journey is illegal, it is fraught with danger, and they must use back-channels, bribes, and smugglers to achieve their goal.

Administrative detention is arrest and detention of individuals by the state without trial. A number of jurisdictions claim that it is done for security reasons. Many countries claim to use administrative detention as a means to combat terrorism or rebellion, to control illegal immigration, or to otherwise protect the ruling regime.

Rakesh Sharma is an Indian documentary filmmaker. His most notable work is the feature-length documentary Final Solution on the 2002 Gujarat riots. Rakesh Sharma spent his formative years in Agra, before moving to Delhi to finish his school and college education. He started his career as television journalist in 1986. He graduated from SRCC, University of Delhi in 1984 with a BA Honors (Economics) degree. He studied MA in Mass Communication from Jamia Millia Islamia MCRC in 1986.

<i>The Black Road</i> 2005 Australian film

The Black Road is a 2005 Australian documentary by William Nessen. The film was shot on location in Aceh, and reports on the Province's battle for independence from Indonesia. Although the film was originally a television documentary, produced for SBS in Australia, it has since been shown around the world at film festivals and presentations on the subject. The film is critically acclaimed and has received several awards, both Australian and international. The Black Road was among four films on the subject of separatism that the Indonesian Film Censorship Institute banned in the country.

Eva Orner is an Australian Academy and Emmy Award-winning film producer and director based in Los Angeles. Her works include Untold Desires, Strange Fits of Passion, Taxi to the Dark Side, and Gonzo, The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. Orner's directorial debut, The Network, a feature documentary set behind the scenes of Afghanistan's largest television station, premiered in the US in March 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration detention in Australia</span>

The Australian government has a policy and practice of detaining in immigration detention facilities non-citizens not holding a valid visa, suspected of visa violations, illegal entry or unauthorised arrival, and those subject to deportation and removal in immigration detention until a decision is made by the immigration authorities to grant a visa and release them into the community, or to repatriate them to their country of origin/passport. Persons in immigration detention may at any time opt to voluntarily leave Australia for their country of origin, or they may be deported or given a bridging or temporary visa. In 1992, Australia adopted a mandatory detention policy obliging the government to detain all persons entering or being in the country without a valid visa, while their claim to remain in Australia is processed and security and health checks undertaken. Also, at the same time, the law was changed to permit indefinite detention, from the previous limit of 273 days. The policy was instituted by the Keating government in 1992, and was varied by the subsequent Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison and Albanese Governments. The policy is regarded as controversial and has been criticised by a number of organisations. In 2004, the High Court of Australia confirmed the constitutionality of indefinite mandatory detention of non-citizens. However, this interpretation was overturned in a landmark decision, NZYQ v Minister for Immigration, in 2023, with the High Court concluding the practice was unlawful and unconstitutional.

<i>Forgotten Bird of Paradise</i> 2009 film by Dominic Brown

Forgotten Bird of Paradise is a 2009 documentary film directed by British filmmaker Dominic Brown, about the struggle for independence being fought in the Indonesian region of West Papua. The film was shot undercover, and includes interviews with human rights victims and political prisoners, as well as footage of separatist guerrillas at their jungle stronghold.

Agostino Imondi, also known as Videoteppista, is an Italian documentary film director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dhondup Wangchen</span> Tibetan filmmaker (born 1974)

Dhondup Wangchen is a Tibetan filmmaker imprisoned by the Chinese government in 2008 on charges related to his documentary Leaving Fear Behind. Made with senior Tibetan monk Jigme Gyatso, the documentary consists of interviews with ordinary Tibetan people discussing the 14th Dalai Lama, the Chinese government, the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and Han Chinese migrants to the region. After smuggling the tapes of the interviews out of Tibet, however, Dhondup Wangchen and Jigme Gyatso were detained during the 2008 Tibetan unrest.

Asylum in Australia has been granted to many refugees since 1945, when half a million Europeans displaced by World War II were given asylum. Since then, there have been periodic waves of asylum seekers from South East Asia and the Middle East, with government policy and public opinion changing over the years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manus Regional Processing Centre</span> An offshore Australian immigration detention facility

The Manus Regional Processing Centre, or Manus Island Regional Processing Centre (MIRCP), was one of a number of offshore Australian immigration detention facilities. The centre was located on the PNG Navy Base Lombrum on Los Negros Island in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Behrouz Boochani</span> Kurdish-Iranian writer, filmmaker, and asylum seeker

Behrouz Boochani is a Kurdish-Iranian journalist, human rights defender, writer and film producer living in New Zealand. He was held in the Australian-run Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea from 2013 until its closure in 2017. He remained on the island before being moved to Port Moresby along with the other detainees around September 2019. On 14 November 2019 he arrived in Christchurch on a one-month visa, to speak at a special event organised by WORD Christchurch on 29 November, as well as other speaking events. In December 2019, his one month visa to New Zealand expired and he remained on an expired visa until being granted refugee status in July 2020, at which time he became a Senior Adjunct Research Fellow at the University of Canterbury.

Sue Clayton is a UK film director, writer and activist, best known for her work on the rights of refugee children. Her documentary films have been cited as evidence in UK court cases involving asylum seekers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angus McDonald (artist)</span> Australian artist and filmmaker

Angus McDonald is an Australian contemporary visual artist, refugee advocate, columnist, and documentary filmmaker.

Chasing Asylum is a 2016 documentary film directed and produced by Eva Orner. It examines Australia's treatment of asylum seekers and refugees.

References

  1. "Agostino Imondi". IMDb.
  2. Australia's Pacific Solution (BBC documentary)
  3. Green Left Weekly
  4. No Border Network
  5. noracism.net
  6. AlJazeera International Documentary Festival
  7. Singapore International Film Festival