Lucky Miles
Directed by Michael James Rowland
With Kenneth Moraleda, Rodney Afif and Srisacd Sacdpraseuth
In cinemas from July 19
Ever arrived in a new country, devoid of most of your possessions, of your family or loved ones, in search of a better life? Have you ever wondered about the stories of "Australia's boat people"? Since the arrival of the Tampa in 2001, some of these stories have been told in the media and in documentaries and films like Molly and Mobarak and Clara Law's Letters To Ali. For most Australians though, the journeys undertaken by those who have ended up in Nauru or in Australia's detention camps remain a mystery. If it were you, how would you go surviving in the desert, looking for help, that may or may not be on your side?
These are the questions that the film Lucky Miles forces you to consider. Made up from an amalgam of stories of those who have risked their lives travelling to Australia, it tells the story of quite a disparate group of people who are forced to work together to get to the big smoke of Perth, impatient to start their new lives, but with obstacles in their way including the strange Australian outback and the force of the law.
When an Indonesian fishing boat and its three crew members dump a boatload of Iraqis and Cambodians somewhere on the West Australian coast, the crew couldn't wait to get away to pick up more boatloads of people in Lombok who are desperate to get to Australia. Left on their own, the Cambodians go one way and the Iraqis another, suspicious of one another, firmly believing that each of the directions they choose is the right one. Each group sets off to find the way to Perth, the metropolis of the west. Shot in South Australia around Coffin Bay and inland, the scenery in this film shows us what a tough, inhospitable yet beautiful country this is, but how foreign to a bunch of Cambodians, Iraqis, and, later, Indonesians who also happen to be on the run from the authorities.
The Australian government's coastal surveillance system kicks in as soon as the group lands on the white sandy beach of this "promised land". It is an imperfect system that, in this case, is enforced by three young army reservists. They are assisted in their task of "safeguarding Australia's borders" by various eager, or not-so-eager station owners and publicans dotting the landscape.
This film captures the aspirations and desires of a group of people — Cambodian Arun (Kenneth Moraleda), Iraqi Youssif (Rodney Afif) and Indonesian Ramelan (Srisacd Sacdpraseuth) who have escaped poverty, war and persecution. It also breaks down cultural stereotypes and gives you an insight into what motivates people to do what they do. The three characters are strongly drawn and in turn, they are characters that draw the viewer into their lives and their predicaments.
It is very refreshing to see an Australian film that reflects some of the multicultural make up of this country. Rather than another Australian film that looks and feels like a commercial advertisement with stereotypes of white Australia, it is a film where Cambodians, Iraqis, Indonesians and Aborigines take centre stage. The film focuses on what human beings have in common and highlights the value of cooperation and human solidarity in the face of a combination of Australia's formidable landscape and, sometimes, people.