China has tried to stop Melbourne's International Film Festival from showing a documentary about a Uighur activist accused by Beijing of orchestrating unrest, organisers said on Wednesday.

The allegation comes amid China's efforts to contain violence involving its Uighur minority in the region of Xinjiang and tension between Beijing and Canberra over the arrest of a mining executive accused of industrial espionage.

Festival director Richard Moore said an official from the Chinese consulate called him last Friday and urged him to withdraw the documentary "Ten Conditions of Love" by Melbourne film-maker Jeff Daniels.

The film is about Rebiya Kadeer, the US-based head of the World Uighur Congress, whom China accuses of fomenting this month's unrest in Xinjiang.

Moore said the consulate official argued the festival should not screen the film because Kadeer was a criminal and also called for organisers to cancel a promotional visit by the activist scheduled for next month.

"She actually said, 'I'm urging you to withdraw this film from the festival'," Moore told ABC radio.

"I said I had no reason to withdraw the film from the festival and she then proceeded to tell me that I had to justify my decision to include the film in the festival."

Moore said he told the official he did not have to justify the film's inclusion "then politely hung up".

Chinese authorities have accused Kadeer of orchestrating the recent bloodshed in Xinjiang, home to the mostly Muslim Uighurs and a growing number of settlers from China's Han majority.

Violence that erupted between the two groups this month left 184 people dead and over 1,600 injured, according to Chinese authorities.

Kadeer, who spent six years in a Chinese prison before she was released in 2005 under US pressure, has denied China's accusations against her.

Canberra is in the midst of a diplomatic row with Beijing over the fate of Stern Hu, a top Rio Tinto executive arrested in Shanghai and accused of bribery and espionage during troubled negotiations over iron ore contracts.

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