Transcript
Over several months the Kurdish journalist and detainee Behrouz Boochani secretly recorded footage at Australia's refugee detention centre before smuggling it to his co-director in the Netherlands.
The Iranian dutch film maker, Arash Kamali Sarvestani, editied the 88 minute documentary together and will present it in Sydney, but he says Mr Boochani should be there too.
"You know as a film maker one of the best, one of the most nicest, strangest, greatest moment is when you share your movie with audience. So I am going to sit beside audience and it would be a great, great, great moment, I'm so happy, but I'm so sad as well because Behrouz can't have this experience. And Behrouz really, really deserve to be in cinema and have all those great moments that all other film maker have."
The Sydney Film Festival's documentary programmer Jenny Neighbour says it is a shame both directors can't present their film.
She says film makers across the world are turning their lenses to the global refugee crisis.
"And I thought when I saw this film that it was a response from our own part of the world, even though it's made obviously with a Dutch filmaker and a Manus Island detainee this is very much what is happening in our part of the world and I thought it was very important to represent that too."
BRD: "I suppose it's normal at a premiere for the filmmakers to be there, but of course one of them can't."
"It is unfortunate that he can't be there with us but that's the point of the film is that he's telling his story so that in essence he is there, he wants the people of Sydney to see his story. So his story will be here even if he's not."
Behrouz Boochani has been detained by Australia on Manus Island for four years after fleeing persecution in Iran for contributing to a Kurdish magazine.
He is one of about 900 men interned on Manus for travelling by boat to Australia to seek asylum.
"This movie is not against Australian people. This movie is against discrimination and it is against racist thinking. The refugees are real people same as you and they left their countries because of discrimination, because of war. And your government is using them for its political aims and it is against human rights. We are trying to show Australia's real face and ask people to think deeply about the situation in here."
Behrouz Boochani says Chauka, please tell us the time is also about Manusian culture and how the people of Manus Island are Australia's victims as well.