The Wait

In The Wait, Mozhgan and journalist Nicole Curby investigate how Australia has created a new border, inside Indonesia, and ask who’s responsible for its consequences. In a disused army barracks, a forgotten church garden, and the hills above Jakarta, Mozhgan and Nicole meet the people who are stuck there. As they go, they're trying to find out: what does it mean to be caught forever on the run, trapped in a permanent in-between? Can the future hold any hope?Threaded through it all is Mozghan’s drive and her fear: will she—and her family—survive the wait?

If you live without rights, far from your motherland, what happens when you die? Mozhgan’s little brother Mohammad speaks Bahasa Indonesia fluently. He knows people. If your relatives want your body sent home, who do they call? They call Mohammad. 

Mozhgan met Hussain in 2013, both packed into a fishing boat, hoping to get to Australia. She takes Nicole to visit him in West Jakarta, where he lives with his dad in a small room. Their single beds touch toe to toe. How has Australia shaped Hussain and Mozhgan’s lives, even though they never got there?

As protests rage in cities across Indonesia, Yousif from Sudan takes the megaphone despite threats of arrest. Mozhgan can’t travel, so Nicole investigates, visiting shelters in Makassar and Batam. Who’s on the streets and why are they willing to risk it all to raise their voices?

Mozhgan and her friend Elina, from Sudan, have a disagreement about beliefs. When the future is impossible to see, faith can be a rock—or it can shatter completely. Either way, some refugees are taking matters into their own hands, in their quest to cope.