The leaked draft script for They Are Us is "disrespectful" and deserves global outcry, says the Islamic Women's Council (IWC).
Spokesperson Anjum Rahman told Newshub the leaked details of the early version of the script - which names several victims killed in the March 15 terror attack during a recreation of the shooting which plays out in almost real-time, is "really awful".
"It's not appropriate…it's really disrespectful and it shows [the producers] are more about the film and marketing a product than the families and communities traumatised by the event."
When speaking to Deadline, Kiwi writer/director Andrew Niccol implied "They Are Us is not so much about the attack but the response to the attack".
However, the draft script shows the attack taking place over almost 17 minutes of screentime - the real attack was over in 18 minutes.
The film's producers said they consulted with the victim's families about the filmmaking process - but Rahman says she doubts this ever happened.
"I'm not a spokesperson for the family [but] I haven't seen any families come forward and I have been keeping an eye on the news. I haven't heard of anyone who lost a loved one speaking to producers."
Newshub spoke to several people who lost family members in the shooting - none of them had been consulted.
All of the people consulted were united in saying this script was worse than the livestream the terrorist used to broadcast his atrocities.
Rahman says it's time New Zealanders started contacting people overseas, as the producers have clearly not listened to the backlash they have received.
"It's time to start contacting people we're connected to overseas and asking them to advocate as well. There need to be international voices speaking out against this."
