Chasing Asylum.

These grandmothers care enough to take it to the streets ... good old fashioned public protests are where it's at. Even more so now than before, because "raising awareness" and pressing the like button on Facebook doesn't really count for much.

They'd set themselves up outside Springwood Growers Markets on Sunday, I stopped and said good ON you all for doing this and literally taking a stand. We talked for ages, they handed me pamphlets to hand out myself and asked me to please join their Facebook page which I did while still standing there in front of them. You can find it here ... it's full of info and truth. The women weren't surprised that I hadn't seen the film Chasing Asylum as it's only on in a few selected cinemas by people brave enough to show it. The Current Affair "expose" was a manufactured veneer of the truth about the living conditions in Nauru and Manus Detention Centres ... the general public don't see the real story. Children are living in dirty tents and mouldy makeshift shacks. No toys. Utter misery, some have spent their entire lives there. Guards are issued certain kind of knife made to cut down the bodies of people who've hung themselves. The powers that be in charge of running Australia are breaking the International Bill of Human Rights.

I wish I could go there .. but one has to fork out a cool $7k to apply for a visa and if the application is unsuccessful there is no refund. And unsurprisingly there's no guarantee of walking around the place freely.

Chasing Asylum is the film the Australian Government does not want you to see .. has anybody seen it yet? The website and info on ticket sales is HERE. It's showing up here in the mountains at Mt Vic Flicks from the 15th - 17th July, and all around the country at selected cinemas.

The protesting grandmothers urged me to see it, urged me to urge other people to see it.

"We are grandmothers; we demand the immediate release of all asylum seeker refugee children and their families from detention."

Brava to them for taking action, petitioning local and federal government, and making their voices heard. People power is stronger and more effective than we realise.

"Chasing Asylum is a film made by Academy Award winner Eva Orner. It exposes the real impact of Australia’s offshore detention policies through the personal accounts of people seeking asylum and whistleblowers who tried to work within the system."