Clip description
The six Iraqis and six Cambodians have swum ashore from the Indonesian fishing boat. The captain Muluk (Sawung Jabo) tells them to climb a sand dune and wait for a bus, but he knows there is no bus. When the men discover they are abandoned, the two groups set off in different directions along the beach.
Curator’s notes
There is very little sentimentality in the way that the film characterises humanity. The Indonesian fishermen laugh at the trick they have played, and neither the Iraqis nor the Cambodians think for one moment of sticking together. None of them knows yet how bad their predicament is, because none of them knows anything about the geography of Australia. At the same time, the film gives us a quick understanding of what brought them here when three of the Cambodian men quickly answer the question – ‘Where is your father?’ – with the same word – ‘dead’.