Story of movie The Jammed :
The Jammed is a 2007 film written and directed by Dee McLachlan.
| The Jammed | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Dee McLachlan |
| Produced by | Dee McLachlan Andrea Buck |
| Written by | Dee McLachlan |
| Starring | Emma Lung Veronica Sywak Saskia Burmeister Sun Park |
| Music by | Grant McLachlan |
| Cinematography | Peter Falk |
| Edited by | Anne Carter Maryjeanne Watt |
| Distributed by | Titan View |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
The film is a story about human trafficking and the sex slave trade in Melbourne, and the search for three girls trapped by a trafficking syndicate. Court transcripts and actual events were an influence in the production of the film.
The Jammed was nominated for seven AFI Awards, for four FCCA awards and for six IF Awards, winning for best feature film, best script and best music.
The film was favourably reviewed by David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz. Its original distribution plan of a DVD release was altered soon after filmmaker and distributor John L Simpson of Titan View used his own home mortgage to release the film. It ended up screening on 40 screens in Australia and 10 in New Zealand.
Screenplay
The film begins with an interrogation in an immigration office, revealing an illegal immigrant working as a prostitute on the verge of being deported. Throughout the film it becomes apparent that one of the interrogators (Damien Richardson) has in fact had sex with the girl at an illegal brothel, negating his encouragement to her to tell the truth.
The film then back tracks three weeks as Ashley (Veronica Sywack), a bored, single insurance clerk who unwittingly becomes involved when she meets a Chinese woman, Sunee (Amanda Ma), as a blind-date airport pick up goes wrong. We learn that Sunee is searching for her daughter, Rubi. Through the various flash backs we meet Crystal (Emma Lung), Vanya (Saskia Burmeister) and Rubi (Sun Park) who have all been enslaved in a Melbourne brothel on premise of "working off their debt" of being brought to Australia with false papers and forced to work as prostitutes.
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Emma Lung | Crystal |
| Veronica Sywak | Ashley |
| Saskia Burmeister | Vanya |
| Masa Yamaguchi | Dyce |
| Sun Park | Rubi |
| Andrew S. Gilbert | Mr. Glassman |
| Alison Whyte | Mrs. Glassman |
| Anna Kim Anderson | Rose |
The film has been generally well received with praise for its frankness and cinematic telling of very serious true stories. Melbourne newspaper The Age said "The story rides on a strong undercurrent of information about the Melbourne sex slave trade, reflecting the extensive research that went into the film."
The Jammed grossed $861,524 at the box office in Australia.
