THE JAMMED NEWS

Popcorn Adventure Review

2010-03-10T17:00:00.001-08:00

The Hype: The Jammed’s story of getting distribution is really awesome.
The Verdict: This is a really, really good Australian film. In fact, this is a really good film – period! It’s always a lovely surprise when Australian filmmakers manage to dish up something worthwhile – the industry is so small that such surprises are few and far between. The film strives to stay close to the grim reality – the shooting style almost seems like a documentary in places and there are moments in the film which really connected, and I found really affecting. There is very little humanity or sympathy shown the sex slaves in the film and it’s a great conceit to tell the story from an unwilling, ordinary womans perspective as she is dragged reluctantly into finding a missing person…
The full article: http://popcornadventures.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/the-jammed/

2009-03-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

After all the acclaim the film has received... we are back to reality. Trafficking is on the rise, morphing into any form by opportunists in their attempt to profit from the suffering of others. The company is also proud to announce:
The Age has launched a site on trafficking and is featuring THE JAMMED.

To link: http://www.theage.com.au/interactive/2009/national/trafficking/jammed.html

AFI RED CARPET 2008...

2008-12-10T20:00:00.000-08:00

PHOTOS FROM THE AFI AWARDS 2008...

2008-12-10T16:54:00.000-08:00

From Left to Right: Emma Lung, Saskia Burmeister, Dee McLachlan, Veronica Sywak, Sun Park

AFI NOMINEES ANNOUNCED IN THE AUSTRALIAN..

2008-10-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

Jammed star and AFI Best Actress nominee Veronica Sywak pictured left with fellow nominee Maeve Dermody.

THE JAMMED SCORES SEVEN AFI NOMINATIONS INCLUDING:

2008-10-28T23:00:00.001-07:00

THE JAMMED SCORES 7 AFI NOMINATIONS INCLUDING:
L'Oreal Paris AFI Award for Best Film:
DEE MCLACHLAN, ANDREA BUCK & SALLY AYRE SMITH
AFI Award for Best Direction:
DEE MCLACHLAN
Macquarie AFI Award for Best Original Screenplay:
DEE MCLACHLAN
AFI Award for Best Editing:
DEE MCLACHLAN & ANNE CARTER
AFI Award for Best Lead Actress:
EMMA LUNG & VERONICA SYWAK
AFI Award for Best Supporting Actress:
SASKIA BURMEISTER

The 50th anniversary AFI celebration will be held at Melbourne's Princess Theatre on Saturday, December 6.

URBAN CINEFILE: FREE ONLINE FOR AFI VOTING - THE JAMMED

2008-09-09T19:51:00.000-07:00

In an imaginative use of the internet, producers of The Jammed have made a high quality digital version of the acclaimed feature film available free online to AFI members to ensure maximum exposure � and hoped-for votes.

To prevent piracy, each copy is watermarked and logged with the AFI membership number of the person who downloads it. At the 2007 IF Awards, The Jammed won Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Music awards.
When insurance clerk Ashley Hudson (Veronica Sywak) does a favour for friend picking up a traveller at the airport, she also gives a lift to Sunee (Amanda Ma), who has come from China to look for her missing daughter, Rubi (Sun Park). Ashley is reluctantly drawn into the search for Rubi, who has become a victim of a sex trafficking scheme run by a Melbourne gang, and she is working as a prostitute, along with fellow victims Vanya (Saskia Burmesiter) and Crystal (Emma Lung). As Ashley tries to help Sunee and Rubi, she gets entangled in the exploitative world of trafficking and the heartless bureaucracy that tramples on the victims on the way to deporting them. (Inspired by actual events and court transcripts.)

Urban Cinefile: http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=14788&s=News_files

INSIDE FILM - The Jammed offered as free download...

2008-09-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

[Tue 09/09/2008 08:30:29]

By Simon de Bruyn

In a landmark move that will surely be copied in years to come, the producers of Australian indie film The Jammed have launched a website to allow AFI voters to download a high quality version of the film for free.

After the Australian Film Institute announced earlier this year it had made several changes to its awards criteria for the feature film category, The Jammed was allowed to join the ranks of eligible films in contention for the 2008 awards.

The film’s producer Andrea Buck said the production team at The Picture Tank partnered with virtual studio Mod Films to make The Jammed available to view at the click of a button. To prevent piracy, each copy is watermarked and logged with the AFI membership number of the person who downloads it.

“The moment we were asked by the AFI to provide details of how members could view The Jammed it felt like a no-brainer. We would like members to have the option to see the film where, when and how best suits them,” she said.

The Jammed was the surprise hit of the 2007 IF Awards, winning the best film, best script and best music awards.

To download the film, AFI members can visit: http://thejammed.modfilms.net

Article courtesy IF:http://if.com.au/news/article/PGXDMNMRTK.html

FREE DOWNLOAD OF THE JAMMED FOR AFI MEMBERS AND NATION WIDE AFI SCREENINGS

2008-09-08T19:35:00.000-07:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE

THE JAMMED is once again screening in cinemas around the country as part of the 2008 AFI Award screenings. After the AFI announced earlier this year it had made several changes to its awards criteria for the feature film category The Jammed – which took out Best Film at the 2007 Inside Film awards, is among 25 Australian films in contention for nominations.

So that all AFI members have the opportunity to view The Jammed, THE PICTURE TANK and MOD FILMS have banded together to offer a high quality downloadable version of the film. Mod Films is a virtual studio developing new interactive formats, stories and web information systems for visual storytelling.

As of September 9th, members can visit http://thejammed.modfilms.net and download the film using a unique password. Producer Andrea Buck said, ‘The moment we were asked by the AFI to provide details of how members could view The Jammed it felt like a no-brainer: of course they should have access to watch our film at the click of a button, online. We would like members to have the option to see the film where, when and how best suits them.’

Lead actress, Veronica Sywak— fresh from presenting the film to the UN in New York, will be introducing the film to AFI theatre goers in each capital city.

Additionally, The Jammed is available on DVD to rent or buy from all leading retailers and directly through www.thejammed.com/dvd.

UNCHAIN ST KILDA: CHARITY SCREENING OF THE JAMMED TONIGHT!!

2008-09-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

The Jammed
Tuesday 9th Sept 6.30pm
The Palace George Cinemas
135 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda

All proceeds (minimum donation of $10 for entry) will go towards
the St Kilda Triangle legal challenge.

St Kilda's Tuesday Flicks will screen films that are either made by, or contain, St Kilda residents, or are located in St Kilda. Films have been selected to celebrate the enduring contributions to the Australian film industry made by talented and creative people from St Kilda.

9 September 2008

For further information: http://www.unchainstkilda.org/tuesdayflicks.html

VERONICA SYWAK INTERVIEWED BY 3 NEWS NEW ZEALAND...

2008-08-18T17:57:00.000-07:00

Full interview with The Jammed actress, Veronica Sywak

The Jammed is a hard-hitting film about sex slavery in Australia. It is a work of fiction, but it tells the very real story of foreign women forced against their will into Australia's sex industry.

Kate Rodger caught up with Veronica Sywack who acts in the film.
Watch the full interview:http://www.3news.co.nz/Home/Video/NZCityVideo/tabid/361/Default.aspx?articleID=65607

THE JAMMED MENTIONED IN THE ECONOMIST...

2008-08-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

People-trafficking and people-smuggling
Drawing lines in a dark place

Aug 14th 2008
From The Economist print edition

Coercing hapless human beings into sex or servitude is obviously evil, but defining the problem (let alone solving it) is very hard.

excerpt:
"Despite the grey area, public perception of the two problems often diverges. In Australia, for example, public opinion favours a tough line over people-smuggling—but there has been a surge of sympathy for the victims of trafficking (often brought to Australia from Thailand or Indochina) since the release last year of “The Jammed”, a film set in a Melbourne brothel"

To read the full article:http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11921830

JAMMED BLOG/REVIEW FROM THE NETHERLANDS..

2008-07-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

The Jammed takes a close and detailed look at the lives of these girls, and traces the path by which family poverty and debt lead to exploitation and violence. The film is very Australian, but hits the bullseye in its portrayal of people trafficking and as such travels well into the European scene. Trafficking is a global industry and like MacDonalds and Starbucks, it tends to follow pretty much the same rules wherever it shows up.

THE JAMMED GERMAN DVD COVER

To Read More Visit: http://xrds.vox.com/library/posts/page/1/

"THE JAMMED" UNITED NATIONS SCREENING EVENT, NEW YORK, 2/06/2008

2008-06-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

JAMMING AT THE UN IN NYC....

2008-05-12T21:46:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge (please note the screening date at United Nations is now June 2nd.)

THE JAMMED GETS A SHOT AT THE AFI AWARDS...

2008-04-15T16:40:00.000-07:00

Last year's critically acclaimed independent movie The Jammed will get a shot at AFI Awards glory thanks to changes to the eligibility criteria for Australia's most prestigious film awards.

Director Dee McLachlan's hard-hitting thriller about the exploitation of Asian sex slaves in Australia won critical acclaim when it was released last year and took home the best feature film gong at the Inside Film (IF) awards.
But the film, starring Veronica Sywak, Emma Lung and Saskia Burmeister, was ineligible to enter the AFI Awards because it didn't have a theatrical release at the time entries were due.
The AFI announced it had made several changes to its awards criteria for 2008 that would make it easier for smaller films to enter.
Directly affecting The Jammed is an alteration which will allow films that were released after the cut-off date for the AFI Awards in 2007 to be eligible for the 2008 awards.
McLachlan applauded the new rule and said she would consider entering The Jammed this year.
"For the actors I think I would, yes," McLachlan said when informed of the changes.
"The film will be a whole lot older and there will be all new exciting films to favour, so that's one consideration.
"But you want to give the actors a chance to compete."

The Jammed was championed early on by film critic David Stratton, who called it the year's best Australian film.
Reviewing the year in film in December, Stratton wrote: "Sadly, the Australian Film Institute deemed the best Australian film of the year ineligible for the AFI Awards because of a technicality, which could surely have been overcome with a modicum of goodwill."
McLachlan fought a long, hard battle to get the film funded and released, before the The Jammed found success.
It is now about to be released in New Zealand and the US, and will be shown at a United Nations screening in New York in May.
"It has come a long way, it's quite extraordinary," McLachlan said.
"But The Jammed is not really about the awards - it's got a life of its own."
Other changes made to the awards will further open up the field for small productions.
Until now feature films were only eligible if they had been publicly exhibited for at least a week in a commercial cinema during the release period, in a minimum of three Australian capital cities - including Sydney and Melbourne.
The 2008 awards have been expanded to include feature films made with a budget of less than $1.5 million that have been exhibited in any capital city.
Films that are released on DVD with a minimum distribution of 1,000 copies will also be eligible under the new criteria, and entry fees for short films have been reduced.
AFI board member Alan Finney said the changes were made in response to industry requests.
"In response to industry requests and in recognition of the changing landscape of film distribution, exhibition and production technologies, we are thrilled to have ... expanded the feature film category to include smaller films that have previously not had the opportunity to enter ... which we hope will provide greater accessibility," Finney saidThe Jammed was championed early on by film critic David Stratton, who called it the year's best Australian film.
Reviewing the year in film in December, Stratton wrote: "Sadly, the Australian Film Institute deemed the best Australian film of the year ineligible for the AFI Awards because of a technicality, which could surely have been overcome with a modicum of goodwill."
McLachlan fought a long, hard battle to get the film funded and released, before the The Jammed found success.
It is now about to be released in New Zealand and the US, and will be shown at a United Nations screening in New York in May.
"It has come a long way, it's quite extraordinary," McLachlan said.
"But The Jammed is not really about the awards - it's got a life of its own."
Other changes made to the awards will further open up the field for small productions.
Until now feature films were only eligible if they had been publicly exhibited for at least a week in a commercial cinema during the release period, in a minimum of three Australian capital cities - including Sydney and Melbourne.
The 2008 awards have been expanded to include feature films made with a budget of less than $1.5 million that have been exhibited in any capital city.
Films that are released on DVD with a minimum distribution of 1,000 copies will also be eligible under the new criteria, and entry fees for short films have been reduced.
AFI board member Alan Finney said the changes were made in response to industry requests.
"In response to industry requests and in recognition of the changing landscape of film distribution, exhibition and production technologies, we are thrilled to have ... expanded the feature film category to include smaller films that have previously not had the opportunity to enter ... which we hope will provide greater accessibility," Finney said

Read the full article over at: http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=475448

Writer/Director Dee McLachlan talks to the Agence French Presse...

2008-04-06T18:13:00.000-07:00

Crime thriller puts Asian sex slavery on agenda in Australia

by Neil Sands

A hard-hitting thriller about the exploitation of Asian sex slaves in Australia has won critical acclaim and revived the career of its creator, a one-time Disney director who has pursued her own doggedly independent path since undergoing a sex-change operation.
"The Jammed" shines a spotlight on a seedy Melbourne underworld where gangsters force young women, mainly from Southeast Asia, to work in brothels and keep them locked up when not servicing clients.
The film has been hailed by critics as the best Australian thriller for years, with The Age newspaper describing it as "a shock of electricity that restores one's faith in just how good Australian social-realist films can be".
It has also been adopted by welfare groups as a way to focus the attention of politicans in Canberra on the issue of sex slavery and was screened in Vienna last month at a UN conference on human trafficking.
South African-born director Dee McLachlan said she decided to make the confronting film after being shocked at the lack of action against sex slavery in Australia.
"It fascinated me that this stuff was actually going on in Melbourne and everyone was so blase about it," Mclachlan told AFP.
She based her script on transcripts of real court cases but decided to film a thriller, rather than a documentary, because she felt the issue supported a strong narrative.
"The Jammed" tells the story of an Australian woman trying to help a Chinese mother who is desperately searching for a daughter missing in Melbourne's underworld.
McLachlan said she deliberately set out to provoke a reaction from viewers and had succeeded beyond her wildest expectations.
"Some reviewers said it was like a bucket of cold water being thrown over the audience," she said.
McLachlan's interest in the issue was initially sparked by a newspaper story.
"A little article appeared about this guy, a respected businessman, who had held 20-40 Thai girls locked up in a fancy suburb of Melbourne," she told AFP.
"A girl jumped out the window onto a tree and escaped, so they cut down the tree so that no more girls could get out.
"That got the local council involved because it breached planning rules -- it was like the tree was more important than the girls: Break the tree laws and you get into trouble but break human rights and nothing happens.
"This wasn't even on the front page of the newspaper, it was buried at the back," she said.
McLachlan said the businessman was eventually convicted for his role in the sex slave ring but received only a suspended sentence and a 31,000 dollar (28,800 US) fine, even though he made millions from the scheme.
She said she wanted to chronicle the official indifference to sex slaves in "The Jammed," which takes its name from the dilemma facing women who must either work as prostitutes or face almost certain deportation if they complain to authorities.
"There's a great lack of will to sort out the problem and I think a lot of that is actually racist," she said. "It's an attitude from white Australians in authority that 'well, these girls are not important, we can just deport them'."
The women's support group Project Respect estimates more than 1,000 women are being held as sex slaves in Australia at any one time.
It says they are lured from impoverished areas of countries such as Thailand and China with promises of work then told once they arrive that they have a huge debt to pay off and must prostitute themselves.
"The Jammed" marks a radical departure for McLachlan, whose last credit as a director was as Duncan McLachlan in 1997 for "The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli and Baloo".
Her early work on wildlife documentaries in Africa helped her break into Hollywood with animal-related features, although she says the projects she worked on at the time were just a way to earn a living.
"From day one on some of these projects I thought 'I'm on a losing wicket, the script is absolutely horrendous' but you've got to do the best you can," she said.
Then came the sex change and the decision to move to Australia seven years ago to forge a career as a female director with few contacts in the close-knit local film industry.
"I had to launch my career again," she said. "It was a real chore because my previous credits weren't really counted, it didn't count for much."
The director's next project promises to be just as controversial -- a surreal comedy about the US intelligence services' practice of "extraordinary rendition" of terror suspects.
"There's quite a lot of comedy in it, so it's a tough mix," she said. "Again, it doesn't tick the boxes.
"When you explain it to the more traditional companies they don't know what to make of it but 'The Jammed' has given us a foot in the door with audiences."

Images
Australian director Dee McLachlan poses as her newly released film, "The Jammed" a hard-hitting thriller about the exploitation of Asian sex slaves in Australia wins critical acclaim and revives the career of its creator. © 2007 AFP William West

Syndicated:

India times http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Exposed_on_screen_Oz_sex_slavery/articleshow/2924145.cms

Inquirer.net http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/breakingnews/breakingnews/view/20080403-128107/Crime-thriller-puts-Asian-sex-slavery-on-agenda-in-Australia

The Age

http://www.theage.com.au/news/film/crime-thriller-puts-asian-sex-slavery-on-agenda/2008/04/04/1207249447518.html?page=2

Yahoo

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080403/ennew_afp/entertainmentaustraliafilmcrimesex_080403033149

The Peninsula

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News&subsection=Rest+of+the+World&month=April2008&file=World_News2008040553624.xml

MSN Singapore

http://news.sg.msn.com/entertainment/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1322657

MSN Indonesia

http://news.id.msn.com/entertainment/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1322713

Macau Daily Times

http://www.macaudailytimesnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9543&Itemid=35

DVD REVIEWS FOR THE JAMMED ROLL OUT....

2008-03-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

Click to Enlarge

INSIDE FILM MAGAZINE REVIEW THE JAMMED DVD...

2008-03-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

Click to Enlarge

SUN PARK TALKS LOVE, LIFE, HI -5 AND THE JAMMED

2008-03-18T22:44:00.000-07:00

Sun Park chats to The Sunday Times(W.A) Click to enlarge

SUN PARK TALKS ABOUT THE JAMMED AND HI-5 IN NW MAGAZINE THIS WEEK.....

2008-03-10T19:55:00.001-07:00

Click to Enlarge

A FRIGHTENING REALITY, ARRESTS MADE OVER ILLEGAL SEX SLAVERY & HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN SYDNEY..

2008-03-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

Five charged over Sydney sex slavery

Friday Mar 7 07:46

A group of South Korean women were falsely lured to Australia and forced to work up to 20 hours a day in a Sydney brothel, police say.Federal Police officers raided six inner-Sydney properties on Thursday, arresting three women and two men allegedly linked to a sex trafficking syndicate worth more than $3 million a year."Police will allege the syndicate recruited women in Korea by deceiving them about the conditions under which they would be employed and then organised their entry into Australia under false pretences," the Australian Federal Police said in a statement.A 46-year-old woman from Greenacre in south-west Sydney, a 42-year-old woman from Hornsby in north-western Sydney and 35-year-old Korean woman are due to appear in Central Local Court.

They are charged with offences including people trafficking, deceptively recruiting for sexual services, dealing in the proceeds of crime worth more than $1 million, and arranging a non-genuine marriage.Two Sydney men, aged 23 and 28, have been charged with knowingly conducting a business involving the sexual servitude of others and will appear in court at a later date.

Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=253498

ROADSHOW ENTERTAINMENT HOST THE JAMMED DVD SCREENING..

2008-03-05T16:53:00.000-08:00

On the eve of The Jammed DVD release(March 4th) Village Roadshow hosted a special retail screening event with Jammed stars Sun Park, Masa Yamaguchi & Veronica Sywak. Some photos from the night below...big thanks to Dean at Roadshow for hosting/organising & photographing the event!

The lovely Miss Sun Park

Sun Park & Roadshow's Dean Gudgeon

Sun Park & Masa Yamaguchi

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD REVIEW THE JAMMED DVD

2008-03-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

Jacqui Taffel, reviewer March 3, 2008

One of last year's most accomplished Australian productions

When it first came out, The Jammed seemed destined for DVD release, with only a brief screening in one Melbourne cinema, as the filmmakers couldn't find a distributor willing to give it a proper showing. Fortunately some well-timed, glowing reviews made audiences and industry types sit up and take notice and it ended up screening in cinemas around the country. Hence the DVD release, first scheduled for August last year, has been delayed until now.
A newspaper story inspired writer-director Dee McLachlan to tackle the subject of sex slavery in Australia and her script is based on real transcripts and court cases. Despite a small budget ($600,000) and being shot on high-definition video, The Jammed is artfully filmed, with subtle use of lighting, colour, slow motion and dynamic editing to heighten tension without being intrusive.

For full review: http://www.smh.com.au/news/dvd-reviews/the-jammed/2008/03/03/1204402331193.html

THE JAMMED DVD REVIEWED IN URBAN CINEFILE...

2008-03-05T15:19:00.000-08:00

Review by Andrew L. Urban:

Following its successful theatrical release, The Jammed is finally out on DVD. In her new feature, Dee McLachlan gets almost everything right in what is a challenging subject. A slightly bumpy time shift at the beginning is the only distraction to a fine, compelling drama which has something profoundly relevant to say about contemporary Australian society.Clearly motivated by a desire to shed light on the nasty sex traffickers and the insensitive bureaucracy in equal measure, McLachlan steers a careful course not to demonise either of her targets so as to lessen credibility. One example of how she avoids this is the casting of the ever likeable and talented Andrew S. Gilbert as Glassman, the operator of the illegal brothel. His wife (Alison Whyte) is about to open her own art gallery - these are ordinary middle class people. Behind the doors of the brothel lies a business run on snaring unsuspecting girls from Asia or Eastern Europe, taking away their passports and making them work as prostitutes until a super-inflated debt - usually the result of deals made to buy them from poor families and/or the cost of the airfares - is paid off.The performances are outstanding, directed with an understanding that credibility is essential to this fact-based story. Emma Lung makes Crystal a feisty yet vulnerable young woman, and maintains a credible Asian accent. Veronica Sywak, vaguely reminiscent at times of a young Shirley MacLean, completely understands her Ashley, and Saskia Burmeister is a revelation as the Russian girl, Vanya. Sun Park as Rubi and Amanda Ma as her mother Sunee are both superb, underplaying their roles to great dramatic effect.Peter Falk's cinematography is excellent and moody, with an illustrative score that uses female voices for melancholy effect. Indeed, the film's melancholy ending is to be welcomed; audiences for this film are surely adult enough to accept it as valid.

To Read Full review head over to: http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=14027&s=DVD

JAMMED STAR SUN PARK IN SYDNEY'S SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

2008-02-25T14:57:00.000-08:00

Sun Park talks about her role in The Jammed in Sydney's Sunday Telegraph.

Also big Congratulations to Sun and her fiancee Nathan on getting engaged last week!!!

The Jammed out on DVD in exactly one week!

THE JAMMED NOW AVAILABLE TO BUY ON DVD!!!!!!

2008-02-20T18:58:00.000-08:00

The Jammed DVD now available from www.thejammed.com/dvd
(pre orders will be shipped March 5th.)

Home use DVD's:
Individual copies can be purchased, for home use for $29.95, with a Picture Tank suggestion to encourage individuals to purchase one DVD, but share it via home parties/ discussions.

Institutional DVD's : available immediately at www.thejammed.com/dvd

Non For Profit organisations, For Profit organisations, Universities and Schools can now purchase The Jammed DVD with a screening license, that allows the film to be screened to unlimited sized groups, for an unlimited amount of times (available right now to be shipped the following day.)

Please note that the cost of an Institutional DVD is significantly higher than for home use. As much as we would love nothing more than to make this film available at no cost to allow for it to be seen as widely as possible, we are unfortunately constrained by the practical reality that we cannot continue without revenue.

The Picture Tank are committed to make films that impact our world in a positive way, and to raise difficult, confronting Human Rights issues that traditionally do not attract commercial support. There is also a lot of work still to be done in taking The Jammed to the general public in Australia as well as internationally.

WWW.THEJAMMED.COM

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE JAMMED...

2008-02-14T22:20:00.000-08:00

Emma Lung and Sun Park on set

Scene 42: Emma Lung

Masa Yamaguchi, Peter Falk ACS, Dee McLachlan and Rob Hornbuckle about to go for a take.

FILM ON SEX TRADE TAKES CATHOLIC GONG....

2008-02-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

The Australian Catholic Film Office (ACFO) has awarded its 2007 Film of the Year to Dee McLachlan’s The Jammed.

Director of the ACFO and jury chair, Jesuit Fr Richard Leonard said 2007 was one of the strongest years in many for Australian films.“The Jammed, The Home Song Stories and Romulus, My Father were among the best,” Fr Leonard said. “The jury felt that The Jammed was a singularly courageous piece of cinema. Even though the extremely violent world this film portrays means many people would not want to see it, that does not allow us to ignore the sex trade in women and children occurring in our nation,” he said.

The movie traces the story of three women brought to Australia under false pretences for sexual exploitation. The Jammed reveals not only the horror of modern human trafficking and slavery but also peels back the complex moral layers involved for everyone, including governments.Fr Leonard said it would be hard to think of a social issue which the whole Church is presently speaking with such clarity.“Pope Benedict’s statement on human trafficking for sex, his message to mark World Day of Migrants and Refugees, and the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerants have strenuously called for all Catholics, Christians and people of good will to do everything they can to counter the causes and the evil results of human trafficking."“The Jammed plays the role of raising our consciousness on this issue."This uncompromising and confronting film illuminates a dark, tragic side of Australian society and thus makes a significant contribution to increasing people’s awareness of an under-recognised but important issue of faith and justice.”

AWARDS NEWS IN THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

2008-02-04T15:29:00.000-08:00

Rumblings of acclaim for Noise
Feb 02, 2008
By Garry Maddox for The Sydney Morning Herald:

Filmgoers voted for the sex slavery drama The Jammed. The film industry went for the emotional immigrant tale Romulus, My Father. Now the country's critics have named Noise as last year's best Australian film.

To read the full article head to http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/rumblings-of-acclaim-for-noise/2008/02/01/1201801037814.html

MORE END OF YEAR FILM WRAP UPS, FEATURING THE JAMMED

2008-01-30T15:02:00.000-08:00

3D World's Top Films Of 2007
Written by 3D Wednsday, 19 December 2007

ACTOR/DIRECTOR TO WATCH:
ANITA: Dee McLachlan, director of The Jammed. This film is a revelation. The most important film you’ll see this year, viewers will be shocked and sickened by what McLachlan’s investigation of the sex slave trade reveals about Australia. In addition, it has to be noted that the adversity the film has faced to get a distribution is astounding and deplorable. Australian films struggle enough to be made without having distribution and film festival doors shut in their faces. McLachlan must be applauded for her artistic vision and determination.

BEST AUSTRALIAN FILM:
ANITA: The Jammed. It is simply unforgivable not to see this film. By far the best film of 2007, it is astounding to think that its content was considered so potent that it was going straight to DVD.
DENEE: Sorry, I haven’t watch any this year. So instead I will name my favourite documentary, which was Michael Moore’s Sicko, for reminding me why private health insurers are evil.
PHILIPPA: The Jammed is a tour de force of Australian filmmaking. Initially knocked back by distributors for being too dark, it’s been embraced by the viewing public and critically acclaimed. There’s a lesson there somewhere! Truly excellent performances, a compelling story, a flawless script and ace directing makes this a must-see.
DANIEL: The Jammed. The most important, harrowing, film you’ll see this year.

WE LIKE THIS QUOTE: “It is simply unforgivable not to see this film. By far the best film of 2007”

THE JAMMED NOMINATED FOR FOUR FILM CRITICS CIRCLE OF AUSTRALIA AWARDS

2008-01-29T14:59:00.000-08:00

The Film Critics Circle of Australia is the national body of professional film critics in Australia. The FCCA recognises outstanding achievement in Australian film through the FCCA Annual Awards.

The Jammed received four nominations:

Best Film - Producers: Sally Ayre-Smith, Andrea Buck, Dee McLachlan

Best Director - Dee McLachlan

Best Script - Dee McLachlan

Best Supporting Actress- Saskia Burmeister

The awards are announced in Sydney February 1st, for more information or tickets head to:

http://www.fcca.com.au/

INTERESTING SCRIPT ARTICLE IN THE AUSTRALIAN MENTIONING THE JAMMED...

2008-01-17T15:24:00.000-08:00

Scripts fail to tell the whole story
Lynden Barber January 02, 2008

Thanks to the introduction of a 40 per cent tax offset to producers, many players are confident that production levels will pick up and the industry can dig itself out of the slough of despond with a few overdue international hits.
Actor Hugh Jackman, who is producing Australian films through his company, Seed Productions, summarised the cautiously buoyant mood when he told The Australian: "I would have thought for the next two or three years it's an optimistic time for the industry. Let's pray it's going to be good."
Prayer will not be enough, however. The most common complaint about Australian films is that their scripts are undercooked and need more development money
Talk to some of the top screenwriting experts and it becomes obvious that the problem goes deeper than a mere lack of money for writers to polish their work. In their view the industry suffers from deep-rooted cultural problems that consistently militate against the possibility of compelling scripts emerging at regular intervals.
And they warn that if these problems aren't seriously addressed, then Australia's poor standard of screenwriting is unlikely to improve, no matter how much money is thrown at it, and the audience share for our films will remain frustratingly low.
These critics are not casual bystanders. They're screenwriting professionals who have worked at the highest levels in filmmaking and education. They are exasperated at the amateurism that engulfs so much local screenwriting: not just from would-be filmmakers but frequently from writers whose films go into production and are commercially released.
Joan Sauers has been an adviser at all four SPARK screenwriting workshops held annually by the Australian Film Commission, and taken part in six European workshops. In the late 1970s and early '80s she worked as a reader and script editor for leading US filmmakers Barry Levinson and Francis Ford Coppola. She is about to join the AFC as a project officer.
Former script editor and teacher Duncan Thompson is the artistic director of Aurora (the annual screenwriting workshops held by the NSW Film and Television Office) and is head of the International Film School Sydney, where he is also head of screenwriting.
Billy Marshall Stoneking is a veteran teacher, script editor and story consultant who has held or is planning screenwriting workshops for institutions including the Australian Film, Television and Radio School, IFSS and Sydney Film School. While all three script experts have some differences in emphasis, they display a remarkable unanimity on the seriousness of the creative challenges facing the Australian film industry. The chief problems are:
* A cultural blind spot regarding drama, because the Australian way is to avoid conflict.
* An alarming lack of knowledge about the craft of screenwriting but no willingness to admit this and to learn.
* Widespread ignorance of screen classics, and no understanding of the ways in which these great films work.
* Training is inadequate or, as Thompson puts it, "absolutely crap, atrocious".
In addition, there's a kneejerk anti-Hollywood attitude, in which basic notions of film structure are viewed as a form of US cultural imperialism, leading to the baby (a strong sense of dramatic structure) being thrown out with the bathwater. According to Sauers, "there's sort of this idea that 'it's either Hollywood, or it's what we do' -- and what we do isn't strong enough".
Most Australian professional screenwriters have spent time writing for television soaps Neighbours and Home and Away, where they've learned bad habits. For example: their characters talk about how they're feeling or what they're doing instead of just getting on with it. "I've seen this all the time in Australian cinema, where characters discuss the scene they're in," says Thompson. "I think it's the major flaw in Australian writing."
The myth of originality holds undue sway. The story doesn't have to be original; more crucial is the way the story is told. Stoneking recalls his incredulity at taking part in a workshop in which a feature script, which had already attracted $20,000 in public development money, had as its protagonist a puddle.
"It didn't speak, it didn't have a face, it didn't have any interior monologue or thought process, no arms or legs, and it moved around the floor and it was thoroughly undramatic," he says. "And when I queried the project officer ... the reply was, 'We'd never had one of those before'. It went completely against the idea of what character-based storytelling is about and it had absolutely no dramatic grammar whatsoever."
Characterisation tends to be lacking. The screenwriters don't get deep inside their characters in the way necessary to bring them alive and make them interesting and unpredictable. Lead characters in Australian films, especially the males, tend to be passive. And by the end of the film there's been little character transformation.
Whether in drama or comedy, the action suffers from a lack of motivation. Things happen at the whim of the writer, without showing the relationship between cause and effect. Effective screenplays create problems for characters, that they must strive to overcome.
There's also too little dramatic incident, and the crucial point from which the story takes off, called the inciting incident, often happens so late that viewers are already checking their watches.
Sauers says there's nothing wrong with presenting depressing subject matter if it's presented in an engaging way, citing the Danish film Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself. But Australian films too often make downbeat subject matter depressing to watch. Many Australian films, she adds, suffer from emotional and dramatic monotony that makes them seem like short films stretched thin over 90 minutes.
So who are some of the more recent offenders? Sauers and Stoneking are both critical of Romulus, My Father, adapted by Nick Drake from Raimond Gaita's memoir. Directed by Richard Roxburgh, it won best film at the Australian Film Institute Awards last month.
"It's not a dramatic film," says Stoneking. "There's so much about it that you want to like but it just never quite gets itself started, the energy doesn't really build." Sauers says Matthew Saville's Noise had script problems, and Stoneking calls Lucky Miles "a terrible film" because "it plays up to a lot of the baser instincts of the Australian mentality: that foreigners are buffoons at best".
Sauers approvingly cites a 2004 paper by producer Peter Sainsbury, in which he excoriates the standard of Australian screenwriting and names Japanese Story and Walking on Water as examples of films whose scripts should have been stronger. "They're interesting films, based on interesting premises," she says, "but essentially the characters are reacting to situations that have been thrust upon them."
So are there any local examples to learn from? Thompson says The Black Balloon (to be released in March from first-time writers Elissa Down and Jimmy Jack) is "brilliant". Stoneking says Ten Canoes is "one of the great world movies" and he admires Kenny ("there is a great transformative journey for a character").
Sauers nominates The Jammed, Saw (a US film but written and directed by Australians), Wolf Creek and Muriel's Wedding as films constructed around strong dramatic storytelling principles, including putting their protagonists through hell. It can hardly be coincidence that the above were all popular with audiences and most with critics too.
So what of the future? Mentoring initiatives such as Aurora and SPARK can help. Sauers says we need to spend more time educating producers and more closely mentoring writers throughout the creative process. For Stoneking the hope lies in building creative links with the corporate sector, which is becoming interested in storytelling workshops. But all agree the problem will not be solved by throwing more public money at extra script drafts when the blueprints are dramatically unsound to begin with.

From The Australian: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22995224-16955,00.html

DAVID STRATTON'S CINEMA WRAP UP FOR 2007 IN THE AUSTRALIAN

2008-01-14T19:42:00.000-08:00

Fine thrillers stole the show
David Stratton December 26, 2007

BY my count, 255 films were released in Australian cinemas during 2007 and I saw just about all of them.This number doesn't include the Bollywood and Asian films that opened, without previews for the mainstream press, in marginal capital-city theatres. The vast majority of films released were American and the quality, not surprisingly, varied from the dire (Saw IV, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry) to the splendid, 10 of which are listed below.
It was a moderately good year for Australian cinema, even though box-office returns were mostly very disappointing. The high-profile films were flawed in one way or another, and my choice for best Australian film of the year is Dee McLachlan's The Jammed, a beautifully written and acted thriller in which an ordinary young woman discovers the evil underworld of sex slavery is alive and thriving in her city.
McLachlan fought a long, hard battle to fund the film (the leading funding bodies rejected it) and to release it (there was initial reluctance on the part of all the distributors). It was even, mysteriously, rejected by the Melbourne International Film Festival. But after screening at the Sydney and Brisbane festivals it caught the attention of public and critics alike and enjoyed a modest, but encouragingly successful, commercial run.
Sadly, the Australian Film Institute deemed the best Australian film of the year ineligible for the AFI Awards because of a technicality, which could surely have been overcome with a modicum of goodwill. Would it have displaced Romulus, My Father as the winner? Who knows, but no other locally made film of the year succeeded so completely in what it set out to do. McLachlan had to be content with winning the IF Award for best film.

Very Special thanks to David Stratton for finding and supporting The Jammed in 2007, Mr Stratton is in a word, Incredible!

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22970767-15803,00.html http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22970767-15803,00.html

AND THE AWARD GOES TO....

2008-01-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

Jim Schembri presents the Schembri Film Awards for Cinematic Excellence in 2007.

The I Can Do More Than Open Blockbusters Award goes to:

Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness, a touching, personal drama that drew in a sizeable chunk of his fanbase.

■The … And We Thought This Franchise Was Dead Award goes to: Die Hard 4.0 for reviving an action movie franchise that had been comatose for 12 years with a kick-ass, steroid-fed action spectacle that cleared the cynicism from the sinuses.

■The We Wish This Franchise Was Dead Award goes to: the third instalments of Pirates, Ocean's and Shrek. Enough already.

■The Most Realistic Action Hero Award goes to: Matt Damon, doing his best running-and-jumping work in The Bourne Ultimatum.

■The Comic Brilliance Ignored Award goes to: Dr Plonk. Rolf de Heer's masterful monochromatic silent comedy was fast, funny, clever and seen by practically nobody.

■The Best Period Film Award goes to: This is England, for evoking the evil allure of racism in 1980s Britain with such frightening authenticity.

■The Best Straight-friendly Gay Film Award goes to: 300. Something for everybody with abs aplenty amid crowd-pleasing action. Runner Up: I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry. Wake up, Gay Rights lobby. Having Adam Sandler on your side is a good thing, not a bad thing.

■The Come From Behind Award goes to: The Jammed. By far the best Australian film of the year, this compelling, micro-budget drama about the Melbourne sex-slave trade was destined for a straight-to-DVD release before being discovered by audiences who carried it to victory at the IF awards.

And the list goes on.. big shout out to Jim Schembri from The Jammed team, THANK YOU for all of your support!!!Check out his blog here: http://blogs.theage.com.au/schembri/

THE AUSTRALIAN MAGAZINE NAMES DEE MCLACHLAN IN IT'S 2007 A-LIST...

2007-12-18T19:12:00.000-08:00

Dee McLachlan in The Australian's A List of 2007.

Click on image and article to Enlarge.

Photo: Andy Baker

THE JAMMED'S WRITER/DIRECTOR DEE MCLACHLAN IN MELBOURNE'S MOST INFLUENTIAL LIST....

2007-12-18T16:49:00.000-08:00

Click to enlarge and read article in The Age's Melbourne Magazine listing Dee Mclachlan as one of Melbourne'e most influential people.

THE AFI DEBATE IN THE AUSTRALIAN....

2007-12-02T16:41:00.000-08:00

Out of the picture
Michael Bodey | December 01, 2007

GEOFFREY Rush once told of the time he was walking along Melbourne's Flemington Road after horseriding training for his role in the European film Les Miserables.
He'd just won a Golden Globe award for his performance in Shine and was weeks away from winning his first Oscar.

"I saw this truck belting down the road and there was this look of recognition from the driver, who yelled out: 'Hey Geoff, good luck with the Logies!'

"I treasure that as a divine moment."

It's a cautionary tale ahead of this week's Australian Film Institute Awards, as the country's petty cultural divide between the film and television sectors reopens.

The AFI Awards will be boycotted by the leading nominee in the TV categories, ABCTV, and will be without a number of high-profile nominees who either didn't want to enter, missed the inexplicably revised entry dates or didn't qualify, including the film recently adjudged best of the year at the Inside Film Awards, The Jammed.

"This film has been made outside of the film industry and been outside of the box in many ways," says its producer, Andrea Buck.

"It didn't seem to fit the grooves of many of the powers in the film industry, so it's a really, really big disappointment for us that it is just a bureaucratic thing that means we can't be included."

While there are inevitable anomalies and gripes surrounding any awards ceremony, this year's AFI Awards appear to have reached breaking point. The Jammed's exclusion is the least of its worries.

ABC TV's decision to boycott the ceremony has been widely supported by the industry. Television producers feel the AFI brought TV into the fold in 1986 begrudgingly in order to broaden its public profile and attract TV coverage.

"I was really encouraged by the flood of emails, comments and calls I've had from television producers in particular supporting the ABC's position, saying it's about time one of the broadcasters stood up," says the ABC's director of television Kim Dalton.

The ABC's concerns stemmed not from the institute's decision to spread the awards over two nights, only one of which would be broadcast, but from the "insensitive" moving of most TV categories to the first night.

What was formerly the Craft Awards and is now dubbed the AFI Industry Awards will take place on December 5, and the AFI Awards dinner will be broadcast on the Nine Network on Thursday, December 6, a non-ratings period.

While the split over two nights had been reluctantly accepted during its first two years, a class distinction has been instituted this year, with only a handful of TV categories being announced on the broadcast night.

"I suppose the icing on the cake was the insensitivity in which they dealt with the key creative teams," Dalton says.

The two most popular Australian TV programs of 2007, Kath & Kim and Thank God You're Here, did not enter the AFI Awards and the most popular new comedy, the ABC hit Summer Heights High, did not qualify, as applications closed on May 25 for eligible programs that were "produced for television and broadcast in Australia for the first time between October 19, 2006 (and) September 26, 2007".

The final application date, more than six months before awards are held in December, is incredibly restrictive and far earlier than in the case of any comparable awards ceremony anywhere in the world.

Indeed, this year the application date was moved forward, which caught some unawares, including producer Nick Murray, whose Jigsaw Entertainment wished to enter the previous award-winning comedy series Stupid Stupid Man.

"We tried to enter two weeks before the awards normally close but we were three weeks late," he says, noting the AFI sent out emails only to producers for whom it had email addresses on its database.

The AFI told the producers of The Jammed and Stupid Stupid Man that no exceptions would be made to the cut-off date. Yet three years ago, the AFI implored one high-rating TV program to enter the awards when it failed to do so. Apparently, the ceremony needed the audience the program's stars would bring.

To read the rest of the article head to: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22850586-16947,00.html

THE JAMMED'S CINDERELLA STORY IN URBAN CINEFILE

2007-11-20T21:15:00.000-08:00

BATTLER WINS, CINDERELLA LIVES, HYPE OVERSTATES …The old William Goldman adage that ‘in showbusiness nobody knows anything’ got another notch on its belt last weekend when the voters in the IF Awards made their choice of The Jammed as the best Australian feature released these past 12 months; that’s the film all distributors turned down, so it was also a confirmation of the Cinderella legend … what more could a film industry want, asks Andrew L. Urban. But is the hype on the right note?
Precisely because The Jammed triumphed in the face of oblivion, it is slightly disappointing that the once edgy IF Awards has adopted the breathless announcement style of every other glam award around the world (“The 2007 Inside Film Awards tonight secured its reputation as one of the most anticipated and glamorous nights of the year as stars from the entertainment world came to the Gold Coast to show their support of the people’s choice awards ...

Urban Cinefile subscribers can read the full story here: http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=13720&s=Features

RED CARPET OUT FOR PICK OF THE PEOPLE:GOLDCOAST IF COVERAGE

2007-11-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

AUSTRALIA'S finest in film hit the Gold Coast last night for the awards considered to be the people's choice -- the Inside Film Awards.
The film stars were joined by former Olympic runner Cathy Freeman and Australian musicians Sarah Blasko and Gotye in a relaxed red carpet walk at the Crowne Plaza Royal Pines Resort.
Freeman said she was at the awards to learn, as she was interested in making her own movies.
Host Julia Zemiro said having the awards on the Gold Coast added to the event's relaxed feel.
The Jammed, starring IF-nominated best actress Veronica Sywak, took out best feature film.
Director Dee McLachlan said the film about illegal prostitution in Australia needed to be told.
"It's a tough film and a gritty film but it's still a fairly mainstream thriller," she said.
"It's about a social topic in Australia and I think it's important to make movies that count and actually say something."

To read the full article head over to: http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2007/11/17/5013_gold-coast-feature.html

THE JAMMED'S IF WIN MAKES NEWS IN VARIETY

2007-11-18T20:31:00.000-08:00

GOLD COAST, Queensland. -- "The Jammed," a self-distribbed contempo thriller about human trafficking that until five months ago was set to go direct-to-DVD, capped a remarkable rise from obscurity to collect the top trophy at the Inside Film Awards Nov. 17.
The indie-financed pic also won kudos for script (for scribe-producer-helmer Dee McLachlan) and music (Grant McLachlan)....read the full Variety article here:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117976207.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

IINSIDE FILM WIN IN THE AUSTRALIAN...

2007-11-18T14:23:00.000-08:00

"But it was The Jammed that won best film. The award was given to the producers, Sally Ayre-Smith, Andrea Buck and Dee McLachlan. McLachlan, who wrote and directed the film, won the prize for best script. Like The Home Song Stories, The Jammed is a traumatic story of recent arrivals: in this case, sex slaves."

To read the full article head over to: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,22772655-16947,00.html

The Jammed took out:

Best Feature Film Producers Sally Ayre-Smith, Andrea Buck, Dee McLachlan; Director, Dee McLachlan, The Jammed

Music Grant Innes McLachlan, The Jammed

Script Dee McLachlan, The Jammed

THE JAMMED WINS BEST FEATURE FILM AT THE INSIDE FILM AWARDS....

2007-11-16T22:50:00.000-08:00

The Jammed took out Best Feature Film, Original Screenplay & Music at the 2007 Inside Film Awards held last night on the Gold Coast.

Producer Andrea Buck, Writer/director Dee McLachlan, Best Actress Nominee Veronica Sywak & producer Sally Ayre Smith are pictured here holding there resin IF statuetes.

Stay tuned more photos to come.....

TITAN VIEW'S JOHN L SIMPSON 'JAMS' PETER GARRETT...

2007-11-11T15:54:00.001-08:00

John L Simpson & Jacob Oberman sandwich Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Enviroment, Heritage & Arts Mr Peter Garrett

JOHN L SIMPSON, VERONICA SYWAK AND HER UM..TWINS

2007-11-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

Click to enlarge

BEST ACTRESS NOMINEE VERONICA SYWAK DAZZLES IN GUCCI AT THE INSTYLE & RUSSH MAGAZINE PARTIES

2007-11-08T16:30:00.001-08:00

Thanks to TITO MEDIA: http://www.titomedia.com/

JAMMED STAR EMMA LUNG MAKES WAVES IN HOLLYWOOD...

2007-11-08T15:30:00.000-08:00

LIKE most Australian actors she has done the hard yards to get there, and Hollywood is finally drawing deep breaths of Sydney star Emma Lung.
While locally Lung is starring in the IF Awards nominated film The Jammed, her career in Hollywood is anything but - with film and TV offers flooding in.
Lung's guest role in the US cult series Entourage grabbed the attention of producer/writer Jon Mass, who was so impressed with her performance that he has specifically written her a part in his latest TV project Verdict.
A legal drama which centres around the trial of an idolised pop star, Lung has been cast opposite Mike Tyson's ex-wife, renowned actress Robin Givens, in the series pilot.
When shooting begins in Philadelphia later this month, Lung will play a British news reporter covering the case.
"I just can't wait. I love the character and I'm crossing my fingers that it all works out," Lung said from LA yesterday.
"I'm actually really loving it here now. I never thought I'd say that but I'm just having so much fun both at work and away from it."
It has been a dream run for Lung since she packed up her Sydney home for the US, even down to the location of her new home in "The Hills" - right under the famous Hollywood sign.
Almost immediately after she arrived in March, Lung was cast in Entourage - with the episode due to air in Australia on Fox8 next Tuesday.
"That whole experience was amazing and has really helped me here because so many people watch it - even Leonardo DiCaprio turned up to watch us filming," Lung said. "I'm just hoping my luck continues."

ON MAKING THE JAMMED A CASE STUDY...

2007-11-04T21:07:00.000-08:00

Grab the podcoast or stream Dee McLachlan & Andrea Buck giving a speech on the making of The Jammed at RMIT University Melbourne.

Click on the link to view: http://www.ac.rmit.edu.au/accontent/jammed/jammedlecture.html

THE JAMMED IN THE WEEKEND'S HERALD SUN

2007-10-14T17:19:00.000-07:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE

INSIDE FILM MEDIA LAUNCH PHOTOS

2007-10-11T20:17:00.000-07:00

Inside Film nominees, hosts and industry including John L Simpson of TITAN VIEW distribution waving an arm for The Jammed's six nominations

Best actress Nominee Veronica Sywak with Inside Film's Rachael Turk & Clare Sawyer

Jammed stars, Veronica Sywak & Masa Yamaguchi

Best Actress Nominee Veronica Sywak http://www.ifawards.com.au/Gallery/Photos.aspx?albumid=26

VERONICA SYWAK NOMINATED FOR BEST ACTRESS

2007-10-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

Garry Maddox Film WriterOctober 11, 2007
Veronica Sywak choked back tears after being nominated for a best actress award among the international stars Brenda Blethyn and Joan Chen yesterday.
The recognition came after a tough period in which the little-known star of the low-budget drama The Jammed stayed on friends' couches between jobs.
"My brain has short-circuited," said Sywak after the announcement. "I was sleeping in my car, like, 2½ - three months ago."
After a series of mostly guest roles on television, the 25-year-old shines in the director Dee McLachlan's tough film about the sex slave trade. But even after finishing a difficult shoot in Melbourne, Sywak had to learn some lessons about survival in Sydney.
"The trick, if you sleep in your car, is to stay up all night and go to internet cafes," she said. "If you sleep in your car at night, you fear that someone is going to break in. Then, during the day, you go somewhere like Centennial Park and just hang out and doze in the sun."
Sywak is up against Blethyn, who plays a comic in Clubland, and Chen, who was a Chinese nightclub singer in The Home Song Stories, at the Inside Film Awards next month.
The self-styled people's choice prizes - rival to the Australian Film Institute Awards - has given The Home Song Stories nine nominations, ahead of The Jammed with six and the comic refugee tale Lucky Miles and the moody thriller Noise with five.
Surprisingly overlooked were the Oscar-winning animation Happy Feet and the immigrant drama Romulus, My Father.
The Jammed was headed for a brief cinema run before a DVD release, until it attracted rave reviews. It has now run for nine weeks and taken $330,000.
"We had so many doors kicked in our faces," Sywak said.

To read full article head over to SMH online: http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/no-place-to-rest-now-one-of-the-best/2007/10/10/1191695990671.html

THE JAMMED NOMINATED FOR SIX INSIDE FILM AWARDS

2007-10-11T16:50:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

THE JAMMED IN WHO WEEKLY MAGAZINE

2007-10-07T19:02:00.001-07:00

Click to enlarge

THE JAMMED OPENS IN TASMANIA TO BRILLIANT REVIEWS

2007-10-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

The Jammed

Date of release: October 2007

Date of Review: Friday, 5 October 2007

Venue: State Cinema-Hobart

In a global film industry where more than half the movies made each year go straight to DVD and then to the bargain bin, the breakout success of Dee McLachlan’s thriller with a heart, The Jammed, is itself a little miracle.The Jammed starts up fast and never lets you go. Essentially it’s not a whodunit but more a howdunit that goes to the dark heart of international sex slavery. It also takes a hard look at Australian bureaucratic attitudes to immigrants – legal and not – and the swelling underground traffic in people and blood that makes a joke of Australia’s fantasy image of itself as the Home of the Fair Go.Edgily shot in a neon lit Melbourne, The Jammed takes no prisoners. However smug – or depressed – you may feel about immigration tactics, detention centres sex slaves and the state of the universe, this stinging movie busts open any sense of I’m All Right, Jack. In fact it’s that last mantra – the real meaning of “mateship” perhaps? – that really gets interrogated here. We follow a young woman, Ashley (an electric Veronica Sywak) who’s bailed up by a bewildered and desperate Chinese woman (Amanda Ma) with the demand that someone – and for some reason she’s chosen Ashley – do something to find her missing daughter! It’s a tangled web that draws Ashley in and leads the movie into the heart of sexual darkness. The fast moving story follows a cruel pilgrim’s progress of three innocent girls: Saskia Burmeister, as the feisty Eastern European survivor, Vanya, Emma Lung is both tough and fragile as Crystal and Sun Park is the tragic Rubi. We rapidly come to care for these girls even as we sense that nothing can save them – least of all the stony faced apparatchiks of immigration and the Federal Police.There’s a wonderfully unlikely villain in Vic Glassman – a rich Toorak businessman greasily, queasily played by Andrew S. Gilbert (normally cast a sadsack) and some lovely stuff in the snooty art gallery of his wife, (Alison Whyte) who after all wouldn’t be the first to subsidise Art with the blood of the innocent. Stephen Frears with Dirty Pretty Things (2004) opened the book on sex trafficking in Europe, but Dee McLachlan has made a film that is its equal, with a zero budget but a story and a whizz-bang style peppered with moments of genuine terror that make The Jammed a truly international as well as a hauntingly human piece of cinema. In another world it would sweep up all the Aussie awards: but that’s what you get for going it alone round here!Dee McLachlan:“I wanted The Jammed to be immediate, fluid, voyeuristic and gritty – powerful, and heavy with contrast and contradiction. I wanted to reveal the dark side of Melbourne that most of us are either unaware of, or would rather not think about, and to ensure the story, the characters, the script and the style were not overworked and certainly not sanitised.In the character Ashley Hudson – I see some of myself – someone essentially wanting to live life undisturbed, un-hassled – just trying to make a living, find a relationship and get through each day. She agrees to pick up Gabby’s friend and that leads her into meeting Sunee. It is Sunee who forces her to make a choice: to help or to walk away. She reluctantly helps – and then she is drawn in wanting to save the girls.And when you save someone – it is not always convenient and clean – as not everyone wants to be saved or to be rescued (they’d prefer to rescue themselves), and this leads to tragic consequences in the film.” (from the Press Kit: Titan View in association with The Picture Tank, 2007)
- Jonathan Dawson

to read more head over to the ABC Hobart website: http://www.abc.net.au/tasmania/stories/s2051177.htm

THE JAMMED REVIEWED IN DB ADELAIDE...

2007-10-04T19:47:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

FILM PUTS ACTOR IN A JAM...

2007-10-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Click to Enlarge this very interesting article

TRIPLE J RADIO GIVES THE JAMMED 4.5 OUT OF 5 REVIEW

2007-09-20T00:38:00.000-07:00

The Jammed

director: Dee McLachlan

country: Australia

release: 20.07.07

rated: 4.5/5review date: 21/09/2007

+ LISTEN TO THIS REVIEW (mp3 )

cast: Veronica Sywak, Emma Lung, Saskia Burmeister, Amanda Ma, Sun Park

review by marc fennell

You’re in a new city. You don’t speak the language. You don’t have your passport. You’re a prisoner. Welcome to Australia. This happens to at least 500 girls every year, or at least that’s according to The Jammed an aussie thriller about three sex slave brought into Melbourne, and the ordinary office-girl who’s somehow roped into finding them…The Jammed is the work of a Melbourne filmmaker Dee McLachlan and she based the film on actual court-transcripts. It’s pretty amazing that we’re even getting to see this movie on the big screen. It was made independently and for one reason or another none of the film distribution companies wanted to release it. But about a month or so ago, word of mouth started to get around about this movie that was supposedly the “Best Australian film of the Year” So is it really that good?Well, I'm not quite prepared to call it the best film of the year. But its a bloody powerful movie. The Jammed is an incredibly visceral movie experience. Right from the opening frame you get this tangible sense of fear. The way they’ve captured the night time streets of Melbourne make it feel like a prison made out of shadows. There are these clinical scenes of the girls being interviewed by government officials is mixed with the sound of them essentially being raped. Its as much a sensory experience as it is an emotional one. And then there are the performances. Emma Lung, Saskia Burmeister are the particular standouts. There are scenes in the movie where the camera catches their face. And you don’t so much see their fear but feel it creeping up your spine. I know I’m gushing. Whilst I do think that it is an excellent film, The Jammed is a bit rough around the edges, certain bits off dialogue and shots don’t always work, and the plot does borrow a lot of clichés from thriller movies. The Jammed will be showing around the country all over the next few months, if ya wanna find out where, check out TheJammed.com And if it aint showing near you, seriously call your cinema, and then make sure you tell us what you think below:

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/review/film/s2038628.htm

VERONICA SYWAK INTERVIEWED BY THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER

2007-09-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge...

DEE MCLACHLAN INTERVIEWED IN TIME OFF BRISBANE

2007-09-16T18:21:00.001-07:00

Fearless Filmmaker
THE JAMMED director DEE McLACHLAN by Mandy Kohler

LIKE A house of dog-eared cards, the canon of movies that deal in high profile causes builds slowly and carefully. One can’t help but feel that a stiff breeze of conservative bluster and the whole thing could collapse - after all, are we really that receptive to being told just what a holy mess we’ve made?
Against the odds, Dee McLachlan’s new film The Jammed answers in the affirmative, highlighting a shocking humanitarian crisis and a public who want to know. It’s this curiosity for the truth and a questioning nature that inspired McLachlan to make a film about sex-trafficking in Australia. “It’s inspired by actual events and court transcripts,” McLachlan says in a heavy South African accent. “I had seen an article in the paper here on page seven or eight and I thought, ‘Well this should actually be on page one’. It was about a case in an upper-class suburb; a guy had locked up 20 girls in a hotel and escorted them to the brothel every day. That’s what initiated me into writing the script.”The film follows Ashley Hudson (Veronica Sywak), an ordinary Australian woman who agrees to help find a missing Chinese girl and gets caught up in the underbelly of the Melbourne sex-trafficking trade. Through her eyes we see a side of Australia rarely seen, heard or talked about. Deciding that the issue was too important to wait the seven years it averages an Australian film to get off the ground, McLachlan circumvented the usual channels. “I’d written the script fairly quickly,” she recounts, “and I’d tried to get the film through funding bodies but it can take several years. I thought because this story is relevant, it should be told now. I thought ‘I’m going to fast track the process: I’m just going to make it with whatever money I can raise’.”And so, she did. With the help of a dedicated cast including talents Emma Lung, Saskia Burmeister and Sywak, McLachlan pulled her resources together and filmed The Jammed on high-definition video. But even when she had a completed film ready to go, McLachlan had trouble finding a distributor and The Jammed was slotted for a DVD release after a one-week run at Melbourne’s Nova Cinema. “Distributors were saying ‘Yeah, look, we love the movie, it’s just not going to play. It’s not going to make any money’,” McLachlan explains, “They often commit themselves at script stage so whether the film is good or bad, they’ve committed themselves. When they look at completed films they’ve got an advantage on seeing whether the film could do well or not, but there’s not the commitment behind it. They just thought maybe it’s a bit too dark and maybe people aren’t going to engage with the film.” After the influential duo of Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton gave The Jammed glowing reviews on At The Movies, not only did they actually agree on something for once, but they also launched McLachlan on a rollercoaster promotional tour when the film was picked up by Dendy. “It’s been amazing,” she says. “Audiences in Melbourne broke records for the opening week of an Australian film. It just shows that people do want to engage. If you said five years ago there was going to a film by a losing politician lecturing on carbon emissions, everyone would have laughed at you and now it’s an Oscar-winning hit movie!”It’s doubtful that the losing politician in question had to compromise on budget, as McLachlan did, but they obviously share a code of practice that should excite emerging filmmakers. “Filmmaking has become more of a committee process in many countries,” McLachlan says. “With digital filmmaking, I think it could swing back where people have a voice to get their story out and not a story that’s diluted by influences whether that be distributors, funding, investors, or sponsors. There are a lot of influences that can change a story.”

THE PM STOPPED BY A TRAFFICK JAM.......

2007-09-13T00:26:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

THE JAMMED OPENS IN ADELAIDE AND YOU'RE INVITED...

2007-09-11T02:05:00.000-07:00

Come along tonight to our opening in Adelaide tonight with Jammed star, Veronica Sywak, click on flyer to enlarge details

JIM SCHEMBRI QUIZZES DEE ABOUT THE JAMMED'S SUCCESS.....

2007-09-06T23:19:00.000-07:00

Audience support saved The Jammed. Writer/director, Dee McLachlan, speaks again to Jim Schembri.

IN 25 words or less, please review your experience with this film since its release.
It has been extraordinary and, in many ways, far beyond my expectations. It's been a little bit like a roller-coaster.
Before the film took hold of audiences, when it was scheduled for a 10-day screening at the Nova before coming out on DVD, what were its prospects?
At that time, the DVD was looming three weeks away, so we thought it was quite a feat just getting it onto one screen. We'd been through so many knockbacks we were delighted that we even got a DVD release.
So what's the story now?
The DVD release has been put back and the film's success has empowered us as filmmakers to engage and build a relationship with the audience. It's quite exciting to be part of the organic process of getting the film to an audience.
The buzz for the film began when David Stratton saw it at the Brisbane film festival the week before release and was so impressed he rejigged At the Movies to include it. Then The Age's review came out the day of release. Then what happened?
The next morning, distributors and exhibitors were calling, then your EG article came out, then it just turned into chaos. We moved the DVD release back, then we literally planned the national release in about two days. Normally, it would take a distributor three months.
What was it like taking calls from people who had initially turned you down?
Let me put this the right way. In some ways it just felt like: "OK, now we're back in business." I'm not quite answering your question.
Let me put words in your mouth. Was there a sense of: "Look who's talking now?" It's OK to gloat a little bit.
Without gloating, it brings back your confidence and your instincts as a filmmaker. That's the most important thing, that it actually brought back some kind of self-confidence that I actually did make certain good decisions in making the film. There is a sense of validation as a filmmaker that you haven't wasted your time.
What was the reaction to the film like that first week?
I was stunned. People were calling me up saying there were no seats available, it was a full house. I've never heard of that. People were getting turned away and had to wait two or three sessions before they could get in to see the movie. It was absolutely mind-blasting that people were so engaged.

To read the full Q & A head over to The Age website: http://www.theage.com.au/news/film/stunned-by-success/2007/09/06/1188783364396.html

THE JAMMED COMES TO ADELAIDE

2007-09-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

THE JAMMED FOUR STAR REVIEW IN THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER...

2007-09-05T19:32:00.000-07:00

When you've had your arm twisted to pick up a stranger from the airport, you don't expect to end up in Melbourne's seedy underworld. Ashley reluctantly offers to help an Asian woman search for her missing daughter. It emerges that the daughter maybe a victim of the sex slave trade, a world that Ashley knows little about.

Rated:
Director:
Dee McLachlan
Running Time:
89 mins
Stars:
Emma Lung, Veronica Sywak, Saskia Burmeister
Movie Review
Rating: 4 stars

Vicky Roach
THIS taut Australian thriller about the sex slave trade has generated an almost unprecedented level of hype.Initially slated for a oneoff Sydney screening, The Jammed now has a wider theatrical release on the back of rave reviews by ABC TV and a Melbourne critic.The enthusiastic critical response to the film is thoroughly deserved. Dee McLachlan's deft direction of her own well-crafted screenplay is supported by strong performances from a solid young cast.Veronica Sywak deserves special mention for the breakout role of Ashley Hudson, an ordinary woman who finds herself in an extraordinary situation.Through a thoroughly convincing group of circumstances, the newly single office worker finds herself adopted by a Chinese mother (Amanda Ma) who has come to Melbourne to lookfor her missing daughter. The search for Rubi (Sun Park), who may or may not want to be found, leads Ashley deeper and deeper into Melbourne's underworld, a place she didn't even know existed.It's a clever narrative device.Like Ashley, most Australians imagine crimes like human trafficking occur only in third world countries. Her journey is an eye-opener, rupturing the familiar fabric of our society.The film, which was inspired by newspaper articles and court transcripts, also shows how relatively simple it is to enslave sex workers by retaining their passports and keeping their money. An illegal immigrant, whose only other option is a detention centre, is hardly going to go to the police.If I have one criticism of the film, it's the casting of Emma Lung in the lead role of Crystal.The actress does a good job in terms of an accent and postural transformation, but it's still difficult to buy her as a Chinese immigrant, even after the screenplay's explanation that she has an English father. The fact that Lung is so obviously acting, with a capital "A", jars with the film's otherwise realistic tone.Saskia Burmeister, however, is completely credible as her Russian counterpart.A standout example of the can-do school of filmmaking.

VERONICA SYWAK INTERVIEWED INFILM..

2007-09-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

Australian cinema’s surprise success story of 2007 is The Jammed (now playing in cinemas), a hard-hitting expose on illegal prostitution in Melbourne. Starring Veronica Sywak, who campaigned relentlessly to get it released, The Jammed was given the cold shoulder by the local film industry until it eventually found a national audience. Sywak talks to Luke Buckmaster about her incredible experiences on and off the set.
In the late 90's Melbourne entrepreneur Gary Glazner ran two pubs well known for strip shows and scantily clad women. His reputation however belonged to a more insidious mantle: Glazner was also known as one of the biggest traffickers of women in the city. Glazner brought at least twenty Thai women into Australia; they lived in premises provided by him and were forced to work as prostitutes at various spots in CBD. He kept their passports, controlled their movements and earned around $1 million from their labour. But when police finally caught up with Glazner he wasn't charged with anything as serious as trafficking or false imprisonment, instead, Melbourne's number one sex slave operator went to trail charged with five counts of being an unlicensed service provider and two counts of living partly off the earnings of prostitution. In December 2001 Glazner was issued an eighteen month fully suspended sentence and a fine of $33,000.
Fast forward five years and Veronica Sywak is door knocking in the CBD. She is coasting between brothels, quizzing prostitutes about their thoughts and experiences in the sex industry - how do they get through their days? What do they think about when they're with their clients? What do they know about human trafficking and the sex slave trade? Sywak is researching for her new role in a controversial, culture-exposing film called The Jammed. At one stage the screenplay was so intense she literally threw it down in disgust; it is a hard-hitting expose on the grimy culture of illegal prostitution.
"The simple reason why human traffic has proliferated in this country," says Sywak, "is basic commerce - supply and demand. A million dollars a week is made from the work of these women. Someone is cashing out. Someone is putting their AMEX down. Someone is pulling hundred dollar bills from their wallet."
A few years after Gary Glazner's trial, filmmaker Dee McLachlan studied the court transcripts and began writing The Jammed. Sywak plays Ashley, a career woman who reluctantly assists Chinese visitor Sunee (Amanda Ma) in the search for her missing daughter. Rubi (Sun Park) is trapped in exactly the kinds of circumstance Glazner took advantage of. Like her colleagues Vanya (Saskia Burmeister) and Crystal (Emma Lung) Rubi is caught in an inextricable rut of prostitution and illegal citizenship. If she goes to the police, she gets deported. If she stays in Australia, she waves the right to her body. Sywak believes the sex slave industry is not just proliferating in Australia, but also operating right in front of our eyes.
"It's so easy to spot these places," she says. "If you look in sex directories at the back of local papers, you can tell illegal brothels where there are trafficked girls. They say 'new girls every week, all Asian,' blah blah blah. It's just so obvious."
"The Jammed is a G rated version of what is happening. There was a brothel in Port Melbourne with underage boys and girls from South East Asia. Really scary stuff, and it's happening in our most affluent suburbs."

To read the full interview head over to: http://www.infilm.com.au/features/sywakandthejammed.html

AUSSIE MOVIE OF THE YEAR SAYS THE WEEKLY TIMES..

2007-09-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

The Jammed is Aussie ‘Movie of the Year’!

Australian movie ‘The Jammed’ has proved an instant box office smash hit following its release last week and nomination as “the Australian Movie of the Year” by the critics.
The film nearly didn’t see light of day in a movie house but for the grit and determination of Epping’s John L Simpson of fledgling Titan View distribution company.
John L Simpson had to take a second mortgage on his family home to raise money to fund the screening of the newly acclaimed masterpiece of storyline, acting and direction.
Overnight the film has gained international attention and demand following rave reviews including four and a half star ratings from Melbourne’s The Age newspaper’s Jim Schembri and now the same from The Sydney Morning Herald film critic.
ABC TV’s David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz also acclaimed it best Australian film of the year with a four star rating.
The Jammed is a dramatic social thriller about human trafficking, illegal prostitution and government deportation inspired by actual events and court transcripts.
The film is currently screening at The Palace Verona Paddington and The Palace Norton Street and The Hayden Orpheum Cremorne.

SYDNEY'S SUNDAY HERALD TALKS AFI'S & THE JAMMED

2007-09-02T18:02:00.000-07:00

FILMINK REVIEWS THE JAMMED.....

2007-09-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

THE JAMMED
Rating
MA
Time
89 minutes
Country
Released
August 30

...tough, moving and eye opening...
Initially headed direct to DVD, a glowing and rallying review on the ABC’s influential At The Movies has resulted in debut writer/director Dee McLachlan’s dramatic thriller The Jammed getting snatched up for a quick cinematic run. Thankfully, the film is gutsy and topical enough to stand on its own, and should rate as more than just a little film with an interesting back story.Through the eyes of everyday paper-pusher Ashley Hudson (an impressively natural and unaffected turn from Veronica Sywak), we are drawn into the ugly, brutal, shadowy world of people smuggling and sex trafficking in Melbourne. Though essentially an innocent bystander, Ashley soon finds herself an unlikely participant in the lives of three young women – Crystal (Emma Lung), Vanya (Saskia Burmeister) and Rubi (Sun Park) – who have been sold as sex slaves, and ply their trade in a seedy brothel owned by the outwardly respectable Vic Glassman (Andrew S. Gilbert). Taut and consistently gripping, The Jammed truly succeeds when it sticks to the personal side of the story. The plot strand involving Crystal, Vanya and Rubi is so loaded with emotion that it comes through with ravaging force. Their horrific plight and the fact that it’s happening in our backyard adds great weight to the film, while the powerful performances of the three actresses hammer things home to great effect. The framing story involving Ashley is not quite as impressive, despite Sywak’s strong work. Her coincidental involvement is never quite plausible, and the thriller-style elements that she drags into proceedings largely detract from the very personal story that is at the heart of this tough, moving and eye opening film.
-Erin Free

THE JAMMED REVIEWED IN BRISBANE'S WESTENDER

2007-09-02T17:36:00.000-07:00

"The Jammed" - Australian Thriller Reveals A Dark Underbelly In Human Trafficking

- Megan Yarrow

One of the Australian films that screened at this year's Brisbane International Film Festival is 'The Jammed', a story set amidst the human trafficking and illegal prostitution that is taking place in our cities

The film begins as Crystal (Emma Lung), a young Indonesian girl, is questioned by immigration officials and about to be sent to a detention centre. It then shifts back three weeks, as insurance clerk Ashley Hudson (Veronica Sywak) is drawn into Melbourne's sinister underworld when she reluctantly agrees to help a Thai woman Sunee (Amanda Ma) find her daughter Rubi (Sun Park).

Speaking at the BIFF screening of 'The Jammed', writer and director Dee McLachlan said that her film presents a "huge cultural calamity" currently taking place in Australia. "This is about displaced people," she said, referring to the victims of human trafficking - 30% of whom have no idea they will be working as prostitutes.

"They work for nothing, and then get deported," she said. Ms McLachlan said that the inspiration for 'The Jammed' came from a series of court cases, in particular the case of Gary Glasner who in the late 1990s, was found guilty of violations of the Victorian Prostitution Control Act (the federal slavery and sexual servitude legislation had not been introduced at that stage). Glazner received a penalty of 18 months imprisonment (fully suspended for two years) and a $31,000 fine.

According to Ms McLachlan, one criticism of the film, put to her by a human rights advocate was that the girls should have been shown working in a legal brothel, because in reality, that's where they are. Actress Veronica Sywak (who had initially auditioned for the role of Vanya - played by Saskia Burmesiter) also spoke at the screening. Of her role as Ashley, Ms Sywak said she had to "plumb the depths of human debauchery and sadness." "It was an incredibly emotionally charged set," she said. Ms McLachlan said that such was the potency of the subject matter, on difficult days the assistance of a "talent alignment" person was sought for counselling purposes.

“The Jammed' is a powerful piece of cinema that delves into Australia's dark underbelly - a confronting and unpleasant place - that like Ashley Hudson, many of us would prefer to turn our back on. It was interesting to see Debra Lawrence (Pippa from 'Home & Away') in the role of the heartless DIMIA Case Officer, and Kate Atkinson ('Seachange's' Constable Karen Miller) as Ashley's detached, middle class friend Gabi.

'The Jammed' screens exclusively in Brisbane at the Dendy from August 30.

A BRILLIANT BLOG ABOUT THE JAMMED & MORE IMPORTANTLY THE ISSUES RAISED IN THE FILM...

2007-08-30T23:47:00.000-07:00

The Jammed and the damned
I'm a bit stirred up since last night.I went with some friends to see the new australian movie THE JAMMED. It chronicles the stories of three trafficked survivors from Melbourne. It really highlights the injustice within the current law for trafficking survivors. Perhaps you don't know?1. trafficked survivors found in Australia have to testify against their traffickers if they want ANY help from the government. If they don't testify they get deported immediately. 2. IF they do testify they have 30 days for the police to make an actual case... if they can't make a case the survivor is STILL deported. 3. Even if they can make a case - the survivor isn't assured permanent status...The suffering these women have endured is unimaginable. I think we could do better. What do you think of these ideas:1. investigative teams that find out where they are being held and bust them out (the early army used to STORM BROTHELS - there would be about 75 soldiers and they'd bust in through the door go into the brothels and any women that wanted to come would be put in the centre of the salvationists and accompanied out - then disappear into a salvo home)... Let's bring back some muscular salvation?2. An Underground railroad: yep, just like the days of slavery - we just absorb trafficked women into Christian community. Until the unjust laws are changed... we care for them/ we don't 'report' them until they can be guaranteed safety and provision. People think these are unrealistic but I think they are a normal Christian response... it's not like they haven't been done before. I think often we hide behind risk management and professional social work instead of just doing what we can when we can... we are the Church - I think we can do more. I pray God will help me to know what I can do to fulfill Isa. 61 and bring His Kingdom to these women NOW as it is in heaven.

From:Armybarmy REMIX Ramblings of a warrior on a long walk to Kingdom come.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
http://armybarmyremix.blogspot.com/

THE JAMMED REVIEWED IN BRISBANE'S COURIER MAIL..

2007-08-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

The Jammed (MA) * * * 1/2

FILM fans at BIFF who caught this local drama about the plight of migrant women who are exploited as sex slaves voted it one of the top 10 movies of the film festival, yet it almost didn't make it for a general cinema release. However, after such a strong showing at the festival and early critical support, Dendy has picked up Dee McLachlan's powerful film for an exclusive season. McLachlan was inspired to write a film about migrant women caught up in the shady word of human trafficking after reading a small newspaper article about a convicted sex trafficker getting a suspended sentence. The resulting story involves fictional characters who have been created out of real scenarios. It's emotionally confronting, with several scenes of rape and humiliation, but not terribly sexually explicit given the content. Ashley Hudson (Veronica Sywak from Blurred) is the ordinary woman who finds herself caught up in an extraordinary situation. She's a woman who works in an insurance office shuffling papers and her biggest challenge in life is dealing with the type of relationship hassles that many of us face. Then she encounters a Chinese woman who needs help. She's arrived in Melbourne looking for her daughter who could be working as a prostitute, with the only clue being a postcard of Flinders St Station. Hudson finds herself caught up in a world where people have no escape. The missing daughter turns out to be working as a prostitute under the name of Rubi (Sun Park, who has a very different role here than her normal gig as one of Hi-Five). Rubi shares a room, or really a hovel, with two other girls. There is Vanya (Saskia Burmeister of Sea Patrol) who retains some of her Russian feistiness despite her helpless situation and Crystal (Emma Lung of 48 Shades), who came to Australia to work as a table dancer but is raped repeatedly by a pimp who arranged for her immigration, before she agrees to work in his brothel. Sywak, Lung and Burmeister all give strong performances as women caught up in a desperate situation. (89 min)

THE AGE DISCUSSES ALL THINGS THE JAMMED: DISTRIBUTION, AFI, BOX OFFICE NUMBERS

2007-08-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

JAMMED STAR VERONICA SYWAK INTERVIEWED IN THE HERALD SUN

2007-08-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge

FOUR AND A HALF STARS FROM CINEPHILIA.NET.AU...

2007-08-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Jammed (Dee McLachlan, 2007, Australia)
Running time 89 minutes
Review by Sharon Hurst

Synopsis: A young Asian woman, Crystal (Emma Lung) is being quizzed by Immigration Officers who learn that she has been imprisoned against her will and held for the purpose of prostitution. We then go back three weeks in time, to meet Melbourne office worker, Ashley Hudson (Veronica Sywak), who goes to the airport to pick up a passenger. There she is approached by Sunee, (Amanda Ma), a woman who has just flown over from China desperate to find her missing daughter. Ashley’s at first reluctant search leads her into the murky world of human trafficking, where Crystal, along with Vanya (Saskia Burmeister) and Rubi (Sun Park) have been lured to Australia on the promise of being dancers, only to find themselves held as sex slaves.
Amidst all the publicity about illegal immigrant smuggling the important issue of sexual trafficking is often ignored. Inspired by actual events and court transcripts, this powerful film reveals a world many of us have little idea exists, at least in Australia. As the story unfolds, the sinister workings of human trafficking and enforced prostitution are exposed, along with the harshly uncompassionate approach taken by the Immigration Department in dealing with its victims.
The Jammed works on multiple levels, both as a thriller and as a powerful piece of social commentary. Director/writer McLachlan deftly interlaces the fictional story line with the real human issues. Full credit must go first to the excellent scripting which rings true at every turn. Add to this the splendid performances by the young women, who manage to elicit such intense empathy for their shocking plights. Emma Lung (Peaches, 48 Shades Of Brown) skilfully captures Crystal’s fear, combined with her increasingly resilient attitude, while Park displays Rubi’s extreme fragility, especially in one scene of searing emotional intensity. Burmeister’s Vanya (Hating Alison Ashley, Thunderstruck) is a powerhouse of sexuality, resentment and strength. Sywak (Romulus My Father) also shows her exceptional talent in a measured and authentic performance. Also be commended is the fine cinematography which manages to capture Melbourne with an immediacy and vibrancy that is at once alluring and impersonal and the empathetic soundtrack, composed by the director’s brother, Grant McLachlan.
The film takes a strongly committed approach to the suffering women, revealing their vulnerability and contrasting it with the detestable brutality of the men who exploit these naïve and hapless girls. From the heavily-tattooed client to those actually running the prostitution ring, men emerge as having very little to commend them, as all the male actors in their respective roles convincingly bring home. Even with the occasional male who attempts to be helpful we are left with the feeling that they cannot understand what it must be like for a woman to be treated in such a sub-human way. Several scenes are very raw in their depiction of physical abuse and drawing us into intense sympathy for the girls’ desperate situation. A compassionate and inspiring film, The Jammed should be seen by everyone with a concern for social justice and the aspiration to make a difference in our too-often complacent society.

FOUR AND A HALF STAR REVIEW IN THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

2007-08-29T16:37:00.000-07:00

The Jammed

George Palathingal, reviewerAugust 30, 2007

As the story races on, the meaning of the film's title becomes harrowingly accurate.

Saskia Burmeister as Vanya, a woman subjected to sexual slavery in Jammed.

Drama
Run Time
89 minutes
Rated
MA 15+
Country
Australia
Director
Dee McLachlan
Actors
Emma Lung, Saskia Burmeister, Sun Park, Veronica Sywak
Rating
stars-4 half
You know from the start that this film isn't going to have a happy ending. The caption warning that it was inspired by Australian court transcripts is one clue; opening scenes involving a vacant-eyed Chinese prostitute being interrogated by immigration officers, and the frustrated white woman who turns up to help her, hammer the point home.
But in the world of dramatic cinema, happy endings can be overrated - and never more so than when the alternative is a film such as The Jammed. In a time when every other idiot seems to have a story to tell and, worse still, a wide variety of forums to clog up doing so, here's a tale actually worth telling. It doesn't hurt, either, that this film is so superbly put together.
The prostitute being questioned answers to the name of Crystal (Emma Lung, from Peaches) and it's her hellish Australian experience we flash back to see unfold. Crystal was sent to Sydney to sort out a family debt she thought she was going to pay off by dancing on tables. Having been brutally set straight, she is driven to an illegal Melbourne brothel to work off her debt along with two other young women in similar circumstances, the Russian Vanya (Saskia Burmeister) and the Chinese Rubi (Sun Park).
In a more affluent part of town, a glimmer of hope appears when a bored office worker named Ashley (Veronica Sywak) gets roped into giving a Chinese stranger a lift. This desperate older woman is looking for her missing daughter and, despite Ashley's instinct to mind her own business, her humanity gets the better of her and she gets drawn into the search. She'll confront many unpredictable scenarios in her quest to help, but ultimately how much can she help, if at all? As the story races on, the meaning of the film's title becomes harrowingly accurate.
That this film was made in Australia and mainly by natives (although writer-director Dee McLachlan is South African) is all well and good but really neither here nor there; what's important is that The Jammed will be revelatory and powerful to most audiences anywhere. It's dynamically lit and filmed and credibly acted, with an elegant score to boot, but there's much more to it than that. It isn't provocative for the sake of being provocative, nor is it merely some worthy exercise in politically correct filmmaking.
Sexual trafficking, modern slavery, call it what you want - the point is there's a terrifying amount of truth in what this film depicts.
Rarely do you come across a film that everyone could learn from

THE JAMMED IN SYDNEY STAR OBSERVER

2007-08-29T16:24:00.000-07:00

THRILLER WITH A MESSAGE by Sunny Burns

Dee McLachlan (third from left) hopes the audience realises the types of cities we’re really living in.
The sinister workings of illegal prostitution have burdened our detention centres and courts for many years. Since the recent uncovering of sex trafficking in Australia, transsexual director and writer Dee McLachlan has embarked on a creative journey to tackle the issue.Her latest film, The Jammed,captures the true essence of Melbourne and Sydney’s sex trade.“I once read that 40 girls were being held captive in Kew – an upper class suburb of Melbourne. I was in such disbelief that a thing like this was possible,” McLachlan said.“My script is mild compared to what really goes on. A large percentage of the girls don’t know that they’re coming to Australia to become prostitutes and they’re treated like dirt.“I remember reading one transcript where a girl was repeatedly raped until she was broken in and agreed to do it. Some girls who refuse are locked away for weeks on end and fed pizza under the door.”McLachlan said the demand for prostitutes in Australia and the lack of local girls willing to go into the business were key reasons why women were trafficked into the country and forced to serve as sex slaves. She said the problem was more pronounced in America where up to 50,000 women a year are illegally brought in to work as prostitutes.“Our government is in denial. It’s much easier to deport them than to sort out the problems and see them as victims,” McLachlan said. “Many don’t testify because they fear the consequences and retribution on their family.“Some girls won’t testify even with [a 30-day temporary] visa. They say, ‘Why should we help you and get our lives threatened at the other end?’ Other countries have amended the laws and the victims get residency and protection, which helps when testifying.”McLachlan said The Jammed took just 19 days to film. The script centres on a Chinese mother who comes to Australia to find her missing daughter. She enlists the help of an innocent bystander and together they rescue three girls from a trafficking syndicate.It is a graphic and confronting film, which contains rape and physical abuse scenes. But it is also an emotional movie that taps into the strength of relationships, desperation and a need to survive.“Many of these slaves carry a large amount of shame and guilt – some even take their own lives, so they’re not looked down upon by their family,” McLachlan said.“I never wanted to make a movie that was black and white. There’s no real closure. I hope the gay and transsexual community can see the struggle for rights and freedom in the film.”

The Jammed opens at the Palace Verona, Paddington, and Palace Norton St, Leichhardt, on 30 August.

DIRECTOR DEE MCLACHLAN'S INTERVIEW ON FILM BUFF FORUM

2007-08-28T19:31:00.000-07:00

Check out the podcast here: http://www.boxcutters.net/bcrss/?p=228

MELBOURNE CHARITY SCREENING TONIGHT....

2007-08-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

There is only a handful of tickets left for tonight's charity screening which will be available on the door at Cinema Nova...head down early. The Sydney event last night was terrific!

THE FIGURES ARE IN...GREAT ARTICLE IN THE AUSTRALIAN TODAY

2007-08-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

If small is beautiful, it shows

REEL TIME: Lynden Barber August 29, 2007

MELBOURNE film The Jammed seems the unlikeliest success story.It's a confronting, low-budget movie set against a background of human trafficking and the sex trade. Yet the film, directed by Dee McLachlan, has broken box office records in its first week on a single screen at Melbourne's Nova cinema, leading to its release in cinemas across the country. The impressive film, starring up-and-comers Emma Lung, Veronica Sywak and Saskia Burmeister, and inspired by cases drawn from court transcripts, couldn't attract an established commercial distributor but was granted a brief season at the Nova. Now that season has been extended indefinitely, after the film earned $38,000 in its first week and followed it up this weekend with earnings of $32,000, a figure likely to rise to $40,000 for the week: a sign the initial success is no flash in the pan. The film has already opened at three other Melbourne cinemas and will be released in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth tomorrow, and in Canberra next month, while screenings in Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory are being negotiated.
Nova owner Natalie Miller describes the results as extraordinary. But when so many good films, including Australian ones, fall over, to what does this one owe its initial success? Miller isolates four factors: its quality, effective grassroots marketing (mainly street posters), a controversy in the Victorian media over its rejection by distributors and the Melbourne International Film Festival (even though it was selected for the Sydney and Brisbane festivals and won a prize at the latter), and three key rave reviews, two of them from ABC television's At the Movies. Would it have performed so well without the controversy? Miller isn't sure. Reel Time hears the Sydney preview figures at the weekend were not in the same ball park as the Melbourne ones. But it's an impressive start for a film that has no trailer or big stars and initially seemed destined to go straight to DVD.
NOVA'S Miller, meanwhile, is planning an exclusive season for another powerful low-budget local film, Kriv Stenders's Boxing Day, which was funded by the Adelaide Film Festival. Yet another local film without an established distributor but with healthy revenues in limited release is 4, a musical documentary based on Vivaldi's The Four Seasons and directed by Tim Slade. The film, praised glowingly by The Australian's Evan Williams, earned about $15,500 at Sydney's Cremorne Orpheum in its first week. Orpheum general manager Paul Dravet says its popularity exemplifies a trend: audiences are returning to "offbeat, independent, exclusive" films and showing less interest in mainstream Hollywood titles. As 4 doesn't have a distributor, Dravet deals directly with the filmmakers. "That could be an interesting future for us: bypassing the distributor," he says. "That means we take full control of the advertising campaign."
IN its 40th week at Dravet's cinema (and therefore surely by far the longest-running film in Australia) is As It is in Heaven, a Swedish film that was overlooked by distributors but which audiences have clearly taken to their hearts. All of this points to a future that resembles the days when individual cinemas would play a successful title for months on end: a pattern that ended when it became common for films to be released simultaneously at several cinemas in each city and, as a consequence, they burned out relatively quickly. Even the smaller films have generally been expected to do well during their opening weekend instead of being allowed to slowly build an audience via word of mouth.
Someone acutely aware of this is Tony Ayres, writer and director of the local drama The Home Song Stories, starring Joan Chen. In an instance of viral marketing, Ayres and his colleagues emailed a letter to all their friends and contacts ahead of the film's release, urging them to turn out on the first weekend and to forward the message to 10 more people. Reel Time received the email from a non-film industry source, suggesting the message successfully circulated beyond the usual industry crowd. "Cinema exhibitors regard the opening weekend as the most significant time in the film's season," reads the email. "A strong opening weekend will also encourage other cinemas to consider screening The Home Song Stories. Australian films have limited publicity budgets compared to the big American films. We can't afford billboards or TV ads. We are relying on the kindness of friends and colleagues to help us let the public know that our film is screening." One of the film's producers, Michael McMahon, says feedback suggests the campaign seemed to work very well, with some recipients organising groups of people to see the film at the weekend.
THE Home Song Stories is one of nine Australian features that will be screened next month at the Toronto International Film Festival. The others are Gillian Armstrong's Death Defying Acts, starring Guy Pearce and Catherine Zeta Jones, Richard Roxburgh's Romulus, My Father, Scott Hicks's documentary about composer Philip Glass, Glass: a Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts, Rolf de Heer's silent comedy Dr Plonk, Peter Duncan's Unfinished Sky, Ben Hackworth's Corroboree, Lawrence Johnston's doco Night and Peter Carstairs's September (the first film from the Tropfest Feature Program).

INTERESTING ARTICLE IN THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

2007-08-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

This article discusses how many Australian movies slip thru the cracks and straight to DVD. This was almost the case with The Jammed, alas it is now coming to cinemas around the country...

JIM SCHEMBRI'S BLOG DISCUSSION ROLLS ON

2007-08-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

Discussion, comments and views continue to roll out over at Jim Schembri's blog on The Age website, keep em coming:

http://blogs.theage.com.au/schembri/archives/2007/08/the_jammed_why.html

THE JAMMED TO BE RELEASED NATIONALLY..

2007-08-26T22:17:00.000-07:00

The audience response to The Jammed as being simply overwhelming and we are delighted to inform everyone that The Jammed is opening soon at a cinema near you:

New South Wales

PALACE NORTON STREET (Sneak peaks from 24/807) 99 Norton St, Leichhardt. 02 9550 0122http://www.palacecinemas.com.au/
VERONA (Sneak peaks from 24/807) 17 Oxford St, Paddington. 02 9360 6099http://www.palacecinemas.com.au/

PLAZA THEATRE (5/9/07)47 Bold St, Laurieton. 02 6559 8755 http://www.plazatheatre.com.au/
THE REGENT THEATRE (31/8/07) Murwillumbah. 02 6672 8265 http://www.cinemaregent.com/
AVOCA BEACH (30/8/07) Avoca Beach Drive, Avoca Beach. 02 4382 1677 http://www.avocabeachpicturetheatre.com.au/

ACT

DENDY CANBERRA CENTRE (September)Level 2 North Quarter, Canberra Centre. 02 6221 8900 http://www.dendy.com.au/

Victoria

CINEMA NOVA (16/807) Lygon Street, Carlton. 03 9347 5331 http://www.cinemanova.com.au/
PALACE BRIGHTON (30/8/07) 294 Bay St, Brighton. 03 9596 3590 http://www.palacecinemas.com.au/
METRO BORONIA (30/8/07)212 - 216 Dorset Rd, Boronia. 03 9762 8744 http://www.metroboronia.com.au/
CAMEO CINEMAS (30/8/07)1628 Burwood Hwy, Belgrave. 03 9754 7844 http://www.cameocinemas.com.au/back to top

Western Australia

CINEMA PARADISO (30/8/07)164 James St, Northbridge. 08 9227 1771 http://www.lunapalace.com.au/

Queensland

DENDY (30/8/07)346 George St, Brisbane. 07 3211 3244 http://www.dendy.com.au/
DENDY PORTSIDE (30/8/07)Portside Wharf, Remora Rd, Hamilton. 07 3137 6000 http://www.dendy.com.au/

More cities & cinemas to be added soon check out http://www.titanview.com/ for updates

PRODUCER ANDREA BUCK TALKS TO WHO WEEKLY MAGAZINE

2007-08-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

Pick up a copy of Who it's on newstands

RUSH OVER AND RATE THE JAMMED FOR THE INSIDE FILM AWARDS

2007-08-26T06:01:00.000-07:00

The Inside Film Awards are the people's choice awards for Australian films.
The Inside Film Awards celebrates and champions Australian film and creative talent. They facilitate a unique dialogue between Australian filmmakers and their audience, support and promote Australian cinema and invigorate the national screen culture.

With less than three weeks till voting closes head over to : http://www.ifawards.com/Vote/Film_List_BYID.aspx?filmid=413&festivalid=&return=%2fVote%2fFilm_List.aspx%3fact%3dsearch%26searchby%3dfilmname%26keyword%3dTHE%2520JAMMED
and RATE THE JAMMED, Veronica Sywak is nominated for best actress & Adriano Cortese fo best actor.

THE JAMMED ON ABC RADIO NATIONAL'S MOVIETIME

2007-08-26T05:55:00.000-07:00

The Jammed spreads

It's been a big week for producers of a low budget Australian film called The Jammed, about the sex slave business in Australian brothels. This film was passed over by every Australian funding agency and rejected by the Melbourne International Film Festival. It won an Interfaith Jury Award at the Brisbane International Film festival and was set for just a modest ten day season at one cinema in Melbourne, when Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton gave it a four star rating on their ABC Television show last week. If you're listening to the Sunday morning edition of this show, you may have heard producer Dee McLachlan talking to Amanda Smith about the response to the film.

Now Palace has picked the film up to open in two cinemas in Sydney from next weekend, with sneak previews this weekend. And the filmmakers have bids from most Australian states and New Zealand, so expect the rollout from next weekend.
Listen to the audio over at: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/movietime/stories/2007/2013109.htm

THE SBS MOVIE SHOW REVIEW THE JAMMED

2007-08-26T05:43:00.000-07:00

The Jammed is shaping up as the little Aussie movie that could.

Unable to get government funding, writer-producer-director Dee McLachlan forged ahead anyway to dramatise grim stories of sex slavery in Australia.

Distributors weren’t interested in putting The Jammed into cinemas, so the filmmakers paid for a short run on one screen themselves. The response has been so good that their movie is now going into expanded release.

The film is based on true stories and transcripts. It begins with Emma Lung’s Eurasian prostitute Crystal being questioned by immigration officials while Veronica Sywak’s concerned lawyer Ashley tries to prevent her deportation.

We flashback to see how Crystal was lured from China to Australia by men who told her she’d make big money as a dancer.

Ashley, meanwhile, has been drawn into this seedy world after reluctantly helping a Chinese mother track down her missing daughter Rubi, played by Sun Park. We also see the plight of Saskia Burmeister’s Russian sex slave Vanya.

The structure of The Jammed is a little unwieldy. I think I would’ve preferred to see the story unfold chronologically, which might’ve also allowed for rounder characters. But it’s a thought-provoking drama with some exciting thriller moments.

The performances from the up-and-coming young cast are all good and I especially liked the real-world bewilderment of Veronica Sywak’s heroine.

Writer-director Dee McLachlan doesn’t soft-pedal the material. This is gritty stuff but she also draws the line at rubbing our noses in it too graphically.

The Jammed illuminates the deadly catch 22 these women face - liberation from sex slavery means more degradation in the form of a detention centre and deportation.

And it scores points for not serving up neat answers to what is a messy, complex problem.

I’m glad The Jammed has made it against the odds and it rates three stars as a worthy look at a horrific world that’s hidden from most Australians.
Reviewed by Michael Adams

To submit your own review of The Jammed visit the SBS Movie Show website: http://movieshow.sbs.com.au/index.php?pid=movie&cid=16129

HOOPLA REVIEWS THE JAMMED

2007-08-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

To look at the bigger picture surrounding The Jammed is to witness the story of an inexorable film. Writer/producer/director Dee McLachlan crafted a feature that by any normal standards shouldn't have been made. With very little in terms of funding, and no one willing to distribute it, it's a wonder that it got released at all. Since several high profile critics gave rave reviews, however, it seems that it will now get the release it deserves.
To read the full review head over to: http://hoopla.nu/films/jammed/jammed.html

THE JAMMED IN BRISABANE'S WESTENDER....

2007-08-26T05:13:00.000-07:00

"The Jammed" - Australian Thriller Reveals A Dark Underbelly In Human Trafficking Feedback

One of the Australian films that screened at this year's Brisbane International Film Festival is 'The Jammed', a story set amidst the human trafficking and illegal prostitution that is taking place in our cities

The film begins as Crystal (Emma Lung), a young Indonesian girl, is questioned by immigration officials and about to be sent to a detention centre. It then shifts back three weeks, as insurance clerk Ashley Hudson (Veronica Sywak) is drawn into Melbourne's sinister underworld when she reluctantly agrees to help a Thai woman Sunee (Amanda Ma) find her daughter Rubi (Sun Park).

Speaking at the BIFF screening of 'The Jammed', writer and director Dee McLachlan said that her film presents a "huge cultural calamity" currently taking place in Australia. "This is about displaced people," she said, referring to the victims of human trafficking - 30% of whom have no idea they will be working as prostitutes.

"They work for nothing, and then get deported," she said. Ms McLachlan said that the inspiration for 'The Jammed' came from a series of court cases, in particular the case of Gary Glasner who in the late 1990s, was found guilty of violations of the Victorian Prostitution Control Act (the federal slavery and sexual servitude legislation had not been introduced at that stage). Glazner received a penalty of 18 months imprisonment (fully suspended for two years) and a $31,000 fine.

According to Ms McLachlan, one criticism of the film, put to her by a human rights advocate was that the girls should have been shown working in a legal brothel, because in reality, that's where they are. Actress Veronica Sywak (who had initially auditioned for the role of Vanya - played by Saskia Burmesiter) also spoke at the screening. Of her role as Ashley, Ms Sywak said she had to "plumb the depths of human debauchery and sadness." "It was an incredibly emotionally charged set," she said. Ms McLachlan said that such was the potency of the subject matter, on difficult days the assistance of a "talent alignment" person was sought for counselling purposes.

“The Jammed' is a powerful piece of cinema that delves into Australia's dark underbelly - a confronting and unpleasant place - that like Ashley Hudson, many of us would prefer to turn our back on. It was interesting to see Debra Lawrence (Pippa from 'Home & Away') in the role of the heartless DIMIA Case Officer, and Kate Atkinson ('Seachange's' Constable Karen Miller) as Ashley's detached, middle class friend Gabi.

'The Jammed' screens exclusively in Brisbane at the Dendy from August 30.

JAMMED REVIEW FROM CINEPHILIA.NET.AU..

2007-08-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

The Jammed (Dee McLachlan, 2007, Australia)
Rating TBA Running time 89 minutes

Review by Bernard Hemingway

Synopsis: When insurance agent, Ashley Hudson (Veronica Sywak), goes to the airport to collect someone as a favour for a friend she finds herself reluctantly led into the world of sex trafficking.
The Jammed is a hard-hitting action drama with a compassionate heart. Written and directed by Dee McLachlan, a South African-born director making her first feature in Australia, it is a worthy addition to the catalogue of “social issue” films, works which address real life injustices via the format of cinematic fiction (the opening titles tell us that the story was inspired by court transcripts and actual events). Made by women, including, besides McLachlan, who also co-produced with Sally Ayre-Smith and co-edited with Anne Carter, Andrea Buck (who writes for this website) as executive producer, it is all the stronger for that fact as this brings to its subject matter, the brutal exploitation of women by men for commercial gain, the values of commitment, credibility and empathy in equal measure.
The script, with its well-developed array of characters, gives the film its solid foundation. Here the device of making the main character an ordinary young woman with a certain amount of emotional baggage is particularly effective as, in its contrast to the young women she tries to help, it both grounds the story in the everyday and brings home the message of injustice which is at the heart of the film. Also effective is the film’s narrative structure which in demanding the audience’s close attention to track events keeps our attention focused on the collision of worlds as officialdom, the workaday and the underworld interpenetrate.
Veronica Sywak is a strong presence at the epicentre of the story, playing the part with the kind of level-headed tenacity that actresses like Toni Collette and Cate Blanchett have made so typical of their screen personae. No doubt credit here also goes to McLachlan who judiciously keeps the film well clear of the strident or crusading. In this respect, the film’s score by the director’s brother, Grant McLachlan, has an important role, the simple and subdued music underlying the broader sense of human tragedy underpinning the specifics of this tale. Impressively shot by Peter Falk, Melbourne, particularly at night, has rarely looked better. Indeed it might be argued that a grittier visual style would have been more appropriate to the subject matter but the upside to this is that the film has more appeal as a cinematic experience. The Jammed is not without it flaws, notably in the casting of Emma Lung and a somewhat provocative but under-developed sub-story involving the laundering of dirty money in the galleries of high art, but overall it is an impressively well-made film that commendably throws light into a dark corner of our society

JAMMED REVIEW ON SBS RADIO LISTEN HERE..

2007-08-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

SBS film critic, Tim Hunter, reviews, The Jammed. He's with host Greg Dyett listen here:

http://www.radio.sbs.com.au/index.php?page=wv&newsID=161279

THE JAMMED BREAKS BOX OFFICE RECORDS!

2007-08-22T23:03:00.000-07:00

THE JAMMED is confirmed as the HIGHEST weekly opening SCREEN AVERAGE for an independent Australian film and FOURTH highest for all Australian films on record after Lantana, Crocodile Dundee II & I.....Just a few weeks ago this film was going to be released straight to DVD, how things change!

JAMMED STAR VERONICA SYWAK INTERVIEWED IN THE MELBOURNE TIMES

2007-08-22T18:19:00.000-07:00

WHOEVER WINS BEST ACTRESS AT THE AFIs...

2007-08-22T17:49:00.000-07:00

"Whoever wins the best actress awards at the AFIs are going to have to thank Emma Lung, Saskia Burmeister and Veronica Sywack for not being in the running." Jim Schembri The Age

Check out Jim's Schembri's new blog topic that asks the question 'Should critics go soft on Australian films?' http://blogs.theage.com.au/schembri/archives/2007/08/should_critics.html

DIRECTOR DEE MCLACHLAN INTERVIEWED ON BBC WORLDWIDE

2007-08-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

Last night The Jammed's writer/director Dee Mclachlan was interviewed by BBC radio international. We will update you as to when the interview will be broadcast and how you can hear the podcast....

THE JAMMED SNEAKS INTO SYDNEY CINEMAS THIS FRIDAY!!!!

2007-08-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

Yes The Jammed is finally hitting cinemas in New South Wales! Catch the Sneak peak sessions from this Friday 24th of August:

PALACE VERONA 17 Oxford Street, Paddington

Fri/Sat/Sun 2.30pm, 4.30pm, 6.30pm, 8.30pm

PALACE NORTON STREET99 Norton Street, Leichhardt

Fri/Sat 11.30am, 3.30pm, 7.30pm, 9.30pm

Sun 10.10, 2.10, 6.10 and 8.10pm

To book online: http://www.palacecinemas.com.au/

& Smashing Melbourne box office records at:
CINEMA NOVA

Lygon Street, Carlton http://www.cinemanova.com.au/

URBAN CINEPHILE INTERVIEWS DEE & SASKIA - THE NEW SLAVE TRADE

2007-08-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

McLACHLAN, DEE & SASKIA BURMEISTER – THE JAMMED
SEX TRAFFICKING THE NEW SLAVE TRADE

Writer/director Dee McLachlan and one of the film’s stars, Saskia Burmeister talk to Andrew L. Urban about The Jammed – an exposé of Australia’s sex trafficking – which McLachlan calls the new slave trade - and its sinister underworld, which the authorities do little to control and even less to help the victims.
A special counsellor was on the set during some of the most challenging scenes in The Jammed, to help the cast cope with the emotional stress, says Saskia Burmeister, who plays Vanya, the Russian girl enslaved by Melbourne sex traffickers. One scene made her shudder after each take. And no, these sex traffickers are not burly, hairy, dark monsters, but middle class Melbournians; the owners of the illegal brothel, Glassman, is played by Andrew S. ...

The full article can be read at: http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=13426&s=Interviews urban cinephile subscribers only.

THE JAMMED MAKES INTERNATIONAL NEWS ON AHN

2007-08-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

"The Jammed" After Initial Rejections, Makes Waves After 4 Star Ratings

August 17, 2007 8:33 a.m. EST
Radhika Basuthakur - AHN News Writer

Melbourne, Australia (AHN) - A movie about the sex slave trade in Melbourne, Australia, which originally was to remain a 10-day independent cinema release, is now touted to become one of the biggest Australian movies of the year.
"The Jammed", written and directed by Dee McLachlan, was turned down by government funding bodies and even rejected by every film distributor. However, its low-key debut did a 360-degree turn when the hosts of Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) TV's 'At The Movies' - Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton - both rated the movie as four-star. The very next day "The Age's" film critic raved about the movie as well.
Distributors who initially rejected the film, have since hounded McLachlan to screen the provocative feature film about Melbourne's sex trade. The story is that of a Chinese mother searching for her missing daughter, and it features a cast of up-and-coming young actors including Sydney's Emma Lung, Saskia Burmeister and Sun Park.
McLachlan said, "It's been quite astonishing the amount of support we have received from all over the country. I mean, I think we have had about 15 emails from various organizations ... that are saying, 'we will get the movie out to the public' ... It's been absolutely amazing."
She expects to sign the deal Monday to screen the movie in cinemas across Australia.

JAMMED STAR SASKIA BURMEISTER PROFILED IN THE COURIER MAIL

2007-08-20T23:49:00.000-07:00

Plain sailing for Saskia

Graham Readfearn
July 25, 2007 12:00am

Saskia (far right) with The Jammed cast at Sydney Film Festival

MOVING effortlessly from navy officer to Russian prostitute, there are few dangers of Aussie actor Saskia Burmeister being typecast.
Burmeister, 22, is racking up the acting credits at an impressive rate.
"What I'm always looking for is diversity," Burmeister says.
"But I want to be working with really great producers, directors and inspiring cast members."
Burmeister plays Lieutenant Nikki Caetano in the Channel 9 drama series Sea Patrol.
Brisbanites will also see her play a prostitute in gritty Aussie movie The Jammed when it screens next month at the Brisbane International Film Festival. Already under her belt are TV roles in Water Rats and Blue Heelers and movie credits for Ned Kelly, Hating Alison Ashley and Jewboy.
Burmeister says it was the diversity of the role and the quality of cast and crew that attracted her to Sea Patrol.
"With Lisa McCune being attached to it, I knew it was going to be a lot of fun and that I was going to be inspired," she says.
Much of the show was filmed on and off the decks of navy vessel HMAS Ipswich in the Coral Sea off Mission Beach, north Queensland.
Burmeister says she was fortunate to be able to work with real-life navy crew who gave her and the cast plenty of advice.
"It was just method acting the entire time. The navy really took us under their wings . . . or should that be hulls.
"We were addressing each other by our crew names and were living it 24/7. It was certainly a real adventure to shoot.
"There were three navy officers that taught me everything about their experiences and about being a navigator. I reckon I would be able to plot a course now!"
As well as looking for her next acting project and preparing for a second series of Sea Patrol, Burmeister is also planning her wedding to Aussie actor Jamie Croft, hopefully early next year.
The pair met in 2002 on the set of her first movie, The Pact.
"We played boyfriend and girlfriend," says Burmeister, who reveals her fella took a traditional approach to the proposal. "Jamie asked my parents first and then proposed on Christmas Day at my family's beach house."
Before the off-screen wedding, fans of Sea Patrol will see Burmeister's character in very choppy seas when it comes to liaising with crew members.
"My character, Nikki, is a bit rebellious and she is pushing the boundaries a bit, especially with her love affair with ET. But hopefully, the public will see her as someone that they can relate to."

OTHER BLOGS ARE BLOGGING ABOUT THE JAMMED

2007-08-20T23:44:00.000-07:00

Check these blogs out:

http://atmosphericharmoniesforloners.blogspot.com/

http://theorstrahyun.blogspot.com/

QUICK REVIEW ON DESIGN FEDERATION.NET

2007-08-20T23:16:00.000-07:00

The Jammed

The Jammed is one of the best Australian Films of this year and it makes you wonder what sort of country is Australia turning into when this sort of movie has troubles getting funding and a decent release? So get off facebook, take off your ipod headphones and go out and support local films and watch this brilliant movie.
Young Melbourne woman, Ashley Hudson, is drawn into a world she had no idea existed as she reluctantly agrees to help a Chinese mother search for her missing daughter. As the story unravels, the sinister workings of human trafficking, illegal prostitution and governmental deportation are exposed. Inspired by actual events and court transcripts, The Jammed is a gritty social thriller.