Film in Preview

Jason Bray is not a stereotypical filmmaker. Instead of the arty, justice-advocate one might expect, Jason is a surprisingly down-to-earth ‘bloke’ who loves his footy, cricket and meat pies.

“I’m a very hard person to categorise and I kind of like it that way,” Jason laughs. “On the surface, I am a bit of an old-school bogan - reflected in my circle of friends who are working-class, beer-drinking, politically incorrect barbarians. Yet what deeply concerns me is how I can promote human rights and care for the environment through film.”

Jason left the security of his previous job, despite having to support his family, to pursue his passion for filmmaking. His desire to raise awareness of taboo and untouched subject matters is reflected in his latest project which tackles the issue of underage prostitution. “In ‘Street Dreams’, we aim to take the audience deep into the streets of northern Thailand, Bangkok and Pattaya, Cambodia and Manila to reveal a world fashioned by desperation, yet fuelled by hope,” Jason explains.

Working with his production company Red Earth Films, (an emerging film and television company who are known for tackling and highlighting extreme stories and situations), Jason captured devastatingly potent stories of underage prostitution and human trafficking. Together with his colleague Mike Crowhurst, this took over five weeks in South-East Asia and despite Asia’s well-documented prostitution and human trafficking issues, the voices of those caught up in it are still largely silent. Jason says some of the stories they uncovered were chilling.

“One moment that stands out to me was an interview with a prostitute in the Philippines,” he recalls. “She opened the interview by telling how she was sold into prostitution at the age of 5 by her mother. Without giving too much away her story just gets worse from there. It was incredibly hard to stay composed. I am the father of a four year old girl and it blows my mind to think that a parent could do that to their child, not once but several times.”

‘Street Dreams’ fundraiser and trailer reveal is on at The Bleeding Heart Gallery, September 3.