Cate Blanchett to direct TV series about mentally-ill Cornelia Rau who was unlawfully held in an immigration detention centre after escaping a terrifying cult

Whatever she touches she seems to turn to gold and now Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett is turning her hand to television directing.

The star will oversee a new series about German Australian Cornelia Rau, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and unlawfully detained for ten months in 2004 and 2005 as part of the Government's detention policy.

Stateless will be the 45-year-old actress's first foray into high-end television thanks to the Aussie series winning a slice of $640,000 of Screen Australia funding.

New project: Cate Blanchett will turn her hand to television directing with a new Australian drama entitled Stateless about mentally-ill Cornelia Rau, a German Australian unlawfully held in an immigration detention

Telling a true story: Cornelia, pictured arriving at a press conference in Adelaide in 2005, will be the focus of the television series to be directed by the Hollywood actress

Telling a true story: Cornelia, pictured arriving at a press conference in Adelaide in 2005, will be the focus of the television series to be directed by the Hollywood actress

It is not known whether the A-lister will feature in the series, or if she will sit entirely behind the camera, but Cate is said to be excited about delving into a new home-grown series.

The cameras will focus on the German citizen and Australian permanent resident Rau who was unlawfully detained at Brisbane Women's Correctional Centre and later at Baxter Detention Centre in South Australia.

Authorities thought she was an illegal immigrant when she refused to reveal her identity.

Drama: Cornelia  arrives back in Australia in the company of  a male guardian and a second woman believed to be her nurse in 2009. She  was jailed in Jordan after it was ruled she had been behaving erratically in Tafila

Drama: Cornelia arrives back in Australia in the company of a male guardian and a second woman believed to be her nurse in 2009. She was jailed in Jordan after it was ruled she had been behaving erratically in Tafila

The former Qantas flight attendant received $2.6 million compensation after spending ten months in a Brisbane jail and the Baxter detention centre in South Australia between 2004 and 2005. 

May 1998, while taking a four-month holiday from her job, she reportedly became involved with a Sydney sect called Kenja. 

It was established in 1982 by a charismatic World War II veteran, Ken Dyers, and a failed actress, Jan Hamilton. Kenja was formed from the first letters of their Christian names; they later discovered that in Japanese it meant wisdom.

Members were encouraged to meditate and release inner blockages.

Terrified: When 60 Minutes asked Cornelia why she had refused to give her real name to immigration authorities, she said she feared being captured by the sect

Terrified: When 60 Minutes asked Cornelia why she had refused to give her real name to immigration authorities, she said she feared being captured by the sect

Her family watched perplexed as became closely involved with Kenja for five months in 1998. During that time she became increasingly erratic and withdrawn.

Reports state members had moved into her flat in Melbourne and after months of being humiliated in public by seniors within the cult she broke free, it was claimed.

Six years later she was reportedly picked up in Sydney by the police, driving erratically.

She was taken to a hospital where she was mistakenly diagnosed with bipolar.

She was then held by immigration authorities and detained at a prison and detention centre.

When 60 Minutes later asked her why she had refused to give her real name to immigration authorities, she said she feared being captured by the sect.

Serious: Cate is said to be excited about portraying Cornelia's story who was unlawfully detained for ten months in 2004 and 2005 when she refused to give her real name

Serious: Cate is said to be excited about portraying Cornelia's story who was unlawfully detained for ten months in 2004 and 2005 when she refused to give her real name

 

 

 

 

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