Diksha Sundriyal
No one wants to leave their home. Everyone wants to enjoy the comfort and familiarity of the place where they have grown up. But things like war, terrorism, and anarchy, among other things, force millions of people to bid adieu to their homeland and find security for themselves and their family somewhere else. But even in these promised lands, they have to face atrocious situations that more often than not border on inhumanity.
Netflix’s ‘Stateless’ brings forward one such story, about people who run away in search of freedom but are held captive in the very place that had given them hope. Apart from its heart-wrenching stories, the show also uses the surroundings to emphasize on the immigration crisis faced by the world. If you want to know where the series was filmed, here’s the answer.
Where was Stateless Filmed?
‘Stateless’ follows the story of several people whose lives interconnect in a detention center. The series primarily takes place in a fictional place called the Barton immigration detention center, but it also stretches out to different parts of the country and the world. To film all these scenes, the makers of ‘Stateless’ scouted for the best possible locations. The search took them to Port Augusta in Australia, with some scenes shot in Adelaide. Timor Leste also features as an important location in the series.
Dili, Timor Leste
Instead of jumping directly to the detention center, ‘Stateless’ first gives us a glimpse into the daunting journey of the people who leave everything behind and put whatever they have at risk to find a new life in a freer place. We meet Ameer and his family when they are already halfway through to Australia. They just have to get on a boat that will take them to the promised land. All these events happen in Indonesia, which is where the filming was supposed to take place too. However, it didn’t work out as planned and the production had to find an alternative. Timor Leste presented itself as a viable option just in time. All the initial scenes with Ameer’s family have been filmed here.
Adelaide, Australia
Sofie Werner’s story begins with her normal life and job, in which she feels suffocated due to her overbearing family. She finds an escape in GOPA, where she is taught to become whoever she wants to be. The events here eventually break her and she ends up in the immigration detention center, despite being an Australian citizen. For the filming of these scenes, the crew set camp in Adelaide. The cast was spotted filming in various spots all over the city. The production also used Adelaide Studios on 226 Fullarton Road for its purpose.
Port Augusta, Australia
After bringing together different characters from different backgrounds, the show converges the story to one place, the Barton Detention Center. Most of the series takes place here, making it the most important location of all. The crew found their perfect spot in Port Augusta. They were very close to Baxter Detention Center, which is also the inspiration for the fictional facility in the series. Even though Baxter has been closed down, the production couldn’t secure it as a filming location. So, they had to erect its replica from scratch. Port Augusta was also used for filming the scenes regarding the personal lives of the personnel of the detention center.
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