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.[1]
After the sixth and final episode, the epilogue states the program was based upon true stories about Australian immigration detention.
Cast
Yvonne Strahovski as Sofie Werner, a German-Australian flight attendant who struggles with mental health issues, based on Cornelia Rau
Marta Dusseldorp as Margot Werner, Sofie’s responsible older sister
Asher Keddie as Clare Kowitz, a representative of the Department of Immigration Management and Multicultural Affairs (DIMMA, based on DIMIA)
Sarah Peirse as Assistant Secretary Genevieve Mundy, Clare’s superior at DIMMA in Canberra
Dan Spielman as David Meakin, a journalist reporting on the Australian immigration policy and its effects
Fayssal Bazzi as Ahmad Ameer, a refugee from Afghanistan
Soraya Heidari as Mina, Ameer’s eldest daughter
Jai Courtney as Off. Cameron ‘Cam’ Sandford, a new officer at Barton Immigration Detention Centre
The series is partly inspired by the real-life story of Cornelia Rau, an Australian who was unlawfully detained under the Australian Government's mandatory detention program.[9]
Blanchett says that the title "refers to statelessness in a more poetic sense, not in a legal, physical sense. It's more about identity and the loss of people's identity when they are faced with long-term detention, when they become a number, when they are dislocated from markers in their life like home and culture, and separated from their families".[10]
The music for the series was composed by Cornel Wilczek.[11]
The Australian television channel ABC premiered the series in Australia soon afterwards, on 1 March 2020.[14]Netflix released the series globally on 8 July 2020.[15][16][17]
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.[18]