Three young children, with their families, arrived on Australian shores by boat, seeking asylum. In accordance with the Australian Migration Act of mandatory detention of unauthorised arrivals to the country, the children and their families were detained in one of the then, six on-shore Immigration Detention Centres. There they wait for a decision of their refugee status to be made. They will either get a visa or be removed from Australia. The process may take months, but in most cases, years.
In February 2002, radio journalist Jacqueline Arias interviewed some children and others living in detention, all having been held for at least 12 months. S.L.A.G heard her radio documentary and approached Jacqueline with the idea of animating their story; a story told in their own words with their own voices.
“There’s nothing… just fence. It’s white and brown, Cigarettes. The colour of cigarettes”
The children are represented in the animation as caged migratory birds. They reflect on their environment, the food and what they think Australia is like “outside”. Poignant and charmingly matter of fact- they don’t see themselves as victims nor do they judge the situation they are in. They just state how they feel.
“Its like being in the jail…you know the jail…. “It’s like that…”
The human rights and mental health of the detainees is a source of concern and debate amongst a growing number of the Australian people. On completion of this film in October 2003, they still remained in detention.
In July of 2004, in the spirit of an upcoming federal election, the Australian Government released all children and their families from detention on temporary VISA’s. In many cases, these VISA’s have been revoked and people have been sent back into detention. Their futures still remain uncertain as they continue to wait indefinitely for their refugee status to be processed.
ASO Curator notes
“It’s Like That has screened at over 60 festivals and conferences following its world debut screening at the Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival in 2003. It had a theatrical release over the Christmas period 2004–05 in Dendy Cinemas in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane and screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival in the US. It won Best Australian Film at the Melbourne International Animation Festival and was nominated for Best Short Animation at the 2004 AFI Awards. Amnesty International has licensed the film for its educational programs
