Feb. 26 (UPI) — “Stateless,” a new drama co-created by and starring Cate Blanchett, is coming to Netflix.
The streaming service confirmed Tuesday on Twitter that it acquired the rights to the limited series about immigration and refugees.
“Cate Blanchett co-created and co-stars in ‘Stateless,’ limited series about four strangers (an airline hostess on the run from a cult, an Afghan refugee, a father of three & a bureaucrat) grappling with the immigration system,” the post reads.
“Stateless” is a six-part series from Australian public broadcaster ABC. The series is co-created by Blanchett, Tony Ayres and Elise McCredie, and co-stars Yvonne Strahovski, Dominic West and Jai Courtney.
The show is set in Australia and centers on four strangers whose lives intersect at an immigration detention center in the middle of the desert. Each character faces different issues around protection and border control.
“‘Stateless’ has been a labor of love for many years and we could not be more thrilled that it will reach an international audience on Netflix. The issues addressed in the series have universal resonance but have been cloaked in silence and muddied by fear and misinformation,” Blanchett, Ayres and McCredie said in a statement.
“Our hope is that “Stateless” will generate a global conversation around our systems of border protection and how our humanity has been affected by them,” the trio added.
Blanchett previously said “Stateless” explores the desire for personal freedom and the need for social stability.
“Whilst this story centers on Australia, the dilemmas it explores through four absorbing characters will resonate globally: the desire for personal freedom, the need for social stability, an escalating lack of faith in the political process and the deeply unsettling impact this had on individual lives,” she said.
“Stateless” will premiere Wednesday at the Berlin International Film Festival. The series is expected to debut on Netflix later this year.
