Stories of Chasing Asylum - Unit Overview

• Student Worksheet – one copy per student
• Computers/tablets to access the online worksheet
• Device capable of presenting websites/videos to the class

Recommendations before you watch the documentary in class:
Teachers are encouraged to watch Chasing Asylum before showing the film and its associated clips to students. The content of the film addresses concepts that require a level of maturity. The resources here have been designed to help teachers feel confident in facilitating safe discussions within the classroom.

This could be reinforced by:

• Speaking with students, staff, family members and the local community prior to screening the film in order to anticipate possible responses that may arise.
• Setting some classroom agreements with students (to ensure ownership and agreement) that create a safe space for engagement with the learning stimulus and activities. 
• Encouraging students to respond to and challenge ideas rather than people.
• Encouraging students to approach the film by thinking critically about the process of making and viewing a documentary film.
• Read the Things to address before viewing and studying Chasing Asylum factsheet for more detailed guidance.

Chasing Asylum exposes the real impact of Australia’s offshore detention policies and explores how ‘The Lucky Country’ became a country where leaders choose detention over compassion and governments deprive the desperate of their basic human rights. The film features never before seen footage from inside Australia’s offshore detention camps, revealing the personal impact of sending those in search of a safe home to languish in limbo. Chasing Asylum explores the mental, physical and fiscal consequences of Australia’s decision to lock away families in unsanitary conditions hidden from media scrutiny, destroying their lives under the pretext of saving them. To watch the documentary, stream it on Kanopy and Clickview or purchase the DVD at the ATOM Education Shop.