Film screening
Chauka Please Tell us the Time

We are screening the 2017 entry to the Sydney Film Festival, Chauka: Please Tell Us the Time. Secretly and stunningly filmed by long term Manus Island detainee, the Kurdish journalist Behrouz Boochani on his iPhone, the film graphically depicts the brutality and banality of day to day life of the men detained on Manus Island – grim consequences of offshore detention, a shameful Australian government policy of indefinite detention on Manus (and Nauru) which should never have started and should never be repeated.

Since the detention facility closure in late 2017, there has been very little media coverage of the brutal situation that has faced the offshore refugees. Though there have been thankfully some refugees (a very small number) accepted for settlement by the United States, the majority are still abandoned on Manus, many of whom have been in limbo on the island for the past 5 years. Following the film screening, Mark Isaacs refugee author and activist will share his knowledge of the parlous situation following the closure of The Regional Processing Centre, including the swift deterioration of medical facilities available to the men. If the internet connection permits on the night, Mark will engage in live conversation with Behrouz Boochani on Manus.