Netflix has obtained worldwide rights - with the exception of Australia - for the distribution of the six-part refugee drama Stateless, co-created by Cate Blanchett (Mrs. America), who also plays the leading role.



Stateless focuses on four specific characters. A flight attendant, an Afghan refugee, a young father of three and an ambitious bureaucrat are all imprisoned in one of Australia's most notorious detention centers. Each character is in conflict with the contradiction of protection and border control, as a result of which the filmmakers hope to provide a relevant and timely insight into issues that countries around the world are struggling with. The story was initially inspired by Cornelia Rau, a German citizen and permanent resident of Australia, who was illegally detained in 2004. In addition to Blanchett, Yvonne Strahovski (The Handmaid's Tale), Jai Courtney (Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later), Asher Keddie (The Hunting), Fayssal Bazzi (The Commons), Dominic West (The Affair) and newcomer Soraya Heidari will also be part of the cast.

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Cate Blanchett, co-creator of Stateless

The news was announced in Berlin, prior to the premiere of the show in the Berlinale Series. Stateless will release on ABC in Australia on the 1st of March, and will premiere in the rest of the world on Netflix later this year. "Stateless has been a labor of love for many years and we cannot be happier that it will reach an international audience on Netflix," said Blanchett, Elise McCredie (Winners & Losers) and Tony Ayres (Glitch).

Stateless was conceived by Blanchett together with Elise McCredie and Tony Ayres. The series is produced by Matchbox Pictures, Blanchett and Andrew Upton's Dirty Films for ABC. The series is written by McCredie and Belinda Chayko (Secret City) and is directed by Emma Freeman (Glitch) and Jocelyn Moorhouse (The Flying Doctors). It took a total of five years to create the series.