Iran’s “Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time” displayed in Slemani International Film Festival
Mansour Jahani – Teleghraph : The Iranian documentary film “Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time” was displayed in the 4th edition of Slemani International Film Festival Iraqi Kurdistan region.
“Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time” is a documentary film co-directed by Kurdish-Iranian refugee Behrouz Boochani and Netherlands-based Iranian filmmaker Arash Kamali Sarvestani released in 2017.
It was shot by Boochani from inside the Manus Island detention centre in Papua New Guinea. The whole film was shot over six months on a smartphone, which had to be kept secret from the prison authorities.
Boochani was held in the Australian-run Manus Island detention center from 2013 until its closure in 2017, and has remained on the island since then.
His memoir, “No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison”, won the Victorian Prize for Literature and the Victorian Premier’s Prize for Nonfiction in January 2019, Anna Politkovskaya Award for Journalism, October 2018 as well as National Biography Award, August 2019.
The book was tapped out on a mobile phone in a series of single messages over time and translated from Persian into English.
Chauka is a tiny bird native to Manus Island and is also the name of the high-security prison within the camp. The chauka is a symbol of the island and allows locals to tell the time from the chauka’s regular singing.” In a sinister twist, it is pronounced the same as the English word “choker.”
The symbolism of the chauka is explained by Boochani as integral to the structure and narrative.
Presided by Fuad Jalal, the festival is organized by Masti Film Company and Mullah Bakhtiar the official in charge of supporting the festival, Fuad Jalal, Festival Manger and head of Masti Film Company, Danar Omar Fares, Artistic Director Festival, Lina Raza, Program Director of the Festival and a number of prominent artists.
At least 134 films from 79 countries, especially the production of 2018 and 2019, in two sections including the World Cinema Competition (International); comprising feature and short films; documentary, animated and experimental, and the Kurdish Cinema (national) comprising feature and short works; documentary, animation and experimental will attend this international cinematic event.
Public Relations of Slemani International Film Festival.
