SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA

13/10/2026

Staatsschutz (Prosecution): Faraz Shariat’s gripping new political thriller that examines the many faces of far-right violence

Screening (with English subtitles) as part of SİNELECTION on Friday, 16 October at 18:00, followed by a conversation with director Faraz Shariat.

Young prosecutor Seyo Kim is determined to confront the rise of far-right violence in Germany. Her mission becomes deeply personal when she narrowly survives a racist attack, forcing her to confront the limits of a justice system that claims neutrality while failing those it is meant to protect. Blending political thriller and courtroom drama, Staatsschutz (Prosecution) is a gripping examination of institutional power, accountability and the enduring threat of racist violence.

Staatsschutz (Prosecution)
Faraz Shariat, Germany 2026, 113 min. German, Korean with English subtitles

JÜNGLINGE Faraz Shariat Paulina Lorenz JN Lotta Kilian Friederike Hohmuth

Director: Faraz Shariat
© David Uzochukwu

11/10/2026

Our editor, Beth Hughes, on "Reclaiming the Territory: On Migration & Racial Justice."
Read the full story here on Letterboxd 👇

https://letterboxd.com/sinema_transtop/story/reclaiming-the-territory-on-migration-racial/

Don't forget to follow us on Letterboxd and share this post for more updates, film insights, and stories! 📲✨

A story on Letterboxd.

09/10/2026

“Reclaiming the territory”: this was how the divisional commander of Luton Police described the force’s approach to Marsh Farm in 1995. After years of tension between residents and the authorities, a police operation to assert control over the housing estate ended in riots.

The Exodus Collective, a group that emerged from the estate’s rave scene, responded differently: organising a free party as a non-violent protest against the policing of the area.

In a post-industrial town 50 km from London, these events sparked national debate: who is granted the right to occupy public space, and who is subjected to surveillance and policing?

Luton has been shaped by migration for more than two centuries. Irish, Caribbean and South Asian communities have all made the town their home. Today, more than half of Luton’s population identifies with an ethnic minority group.

Still from Ish, Imran Perretta, 2025.

Luton is also frequently framed in media narratives around anti-migrant sentiment. It is the birthplace of the English Defence League (EDL), a violent far-right movement associated with anti-Muslim racism and extreme nationalist politics.

EDL protest 2011, photo by Guy Corbishley.

Set and filmed in Luton, Imran Perretta’s feature debut, Ish, offers another perspective on the town. Drawing on Perretta’s own experience of being stopped and searched as a teenager in the aftermath of 9/11, the film follows two friends through a summer of friendship, grief and growing political awareness.

Ish filming behind-the-scenes, photo by Khuram Mirzal.

The film’s questions around racial profiling, marginalisation and belonging resonate with realities in contemporary Germany, including those documented by German journalist and author Mohamed Amjahid in his 2024 book Alles nur Einzelfälle? Das System hinter der Polizeigewalt (Are They All Just Isolated Cases? The System Behind Police Violence).

Still from Ish, Imran Perretta, 2025.

ISH is screening on:

FRI 23.10. · 18:00

WED 28.10. · 20:00

SAT 07.11. · 20:30 followed by a live audio essay by Luton-born, Sheffield-based artist Ashley Holmes.

Still from Ish, Imran Perretta, 2025.

Titled Dub Epistemologies, Holmes’s audio es

07/10/2026

Monster Pabrik Rambut (Sleep No More): Edwin on the grotesque machinery of overwork

At a wig factory where workers are pushed into punishing overtime, sisters Putri and Ida are left trying to understand their mother’s mysterious death. When exhausted workers begin speaking of a dark figure taking possession of their bodies, Ida decides to work through the night herself to uncover the truth.
Combining body horror, dark humour and supernatural horror, Edwin turns the machinery of overwork into a grotesque nightmare. Beneath the excess and absurdity, Sleep No More takes aim at a workplace culture that demands workers sacrifice their health for productivity.

Monster Pabrik Rambut (Sleep No More)
Edwin, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, Germany, France, 2026, 96 min. Indonesian with English subtitles

✨World premiere Berlinale 2026
Screening this October as part of SİNELECTION at SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA (Berlin, Wedding)
SAT 17.10. 20:30 +
WED 21.10. 20:30 +
FRI 23.10. 20:30

Edwin
Meiske Taurisia
Muhammad Zaidy
Palari Films
Rachel Amanda Aurora
Lutesha
𝐒𝐚𝐥 Priadi
Iqbaal Ramadhan
Dance Maestro💃

06/10/2026

LADY: On friendship and the search for freedom in Lagos

Taxi driver Lady is saving to leave Lagos when the return of her childhood friend Pinky draws her into a world of s*x work, night-time hustling and unexpected solidarity.

Moving between the energy of nocturnal Lagos and the private spaces of women navigating money, desire and violence, Olive Nwosu’s debut is a nuanced portrait of friendship, intimacy and the line between freedom and dependence.

LADY
Olive Nwosu, Nigeria, UK, 2026, 93 min. English, Pidgin English with English subtitles
🏆 Special Jury Award @ Sundanceorg | European Premiere @ Berlinale Panorama

Get your tickets at the link in our bio 🔗

Screening this October as part of SİNELECTION SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA (Berlin, Wedding)
📆SUN 18.10. | 19:00 +
📆THU 22.10. | 20:00 +
📆SAT 24.10. | 18:00

Olive Nwosu Jessica Gabriel's Ujah Amanda Oruh Tinuade Jemiseye Fadesaye Olateru-Olagbegi | Actor Eva Ibiam | Actor Agu Chinenye Esthyraph Yolo

01/10/2026

Six SİNELECTION picks screening this October!

Shame and Money
Visar Morina, 2026, 130 min. Albanian with German and English subtitles

A tense new drama about class, dignity and economic precarity, moving from rural Kosovo to Pristina.

THU 01.10. 20:00 +
WED 07.10. 20:30 +
SAT 17.10. 18:00 +
THU 22.10. 18:00

Monster Pabrik Rambut (Sleep No More)
Edwin, 2026, 96 min. Indonesian with English subtitles

Supernatural terror collides with the brutal realities of capitalist exploitation on the factory floor.

SAT 17.10. 20:30 +
WED 21.10. 20:30 +
FRI 23.10. 20:30

Lady
Olive Nwosu, 2026, 93 min. English, Pidgin English

Through the eyes of taxi driver Lady, we move through the sprawling streets of Lagos and into a world of s*x work, friendship and survival.

SUN 18.10. 19:00 +
THU 22.10. 20:00 +
SAT 24.10. 18:00

Ish
Imran Perretta, 2025, 89 min. English

Artist Imran Perretta’s striking coming-of-age story set in Luton, where racial profiling threatens to come between two childhood friends.

FRI 23.10. 18:00 +
WED 28.10. 20:00

Staatsschutz (Prosecution)
Faraz Shariat, 2026, 113 min. German, Korean with English subtitles

A courtroom thriller following a prosecutor investigating far-right violence, followed by a conversation with the director.

FRI 16.10. 18:00 + talk with Faraz Shariat!

NAZA
Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, 2026, 80 min. Hebrew, English with English subtitles

Two of the filmmakers behind No Other Land present a devastating new documentary exposing the systems behind the genocide in Gaza.

SAT 03.10. 15:00 +
SUN 04.10. 16:00 +
TUE 0610. 18:30 + 20:30
SUN 11.10. 20:00 +
THU 15.10. 18:00 +
SUN 18.10. 19:00 +
WED 21.10. 18:30

30/09/2026

Sharing COMMON VISIONS with AVAH Collective and CINELOGUE

On Wednesday 14. October, AVAH (Afghanistan’s Visual Arts & History) Collective join forces with Cinelogue to present a screening of shorts Bigana and Elephantbird.

Two films that move through rural Afghanistan across different historical moments, each depicts ordinary desires and everyday lives as they encounter relations of power, uncertainty and survival.

The screening will be followed by a talk with author, artist and AVAH co-founder Moshtari Hilal (moshtariمشترى) and Cinelogue founder Rehana Esmail (Rehana Esmail)

🎟️ TICKETS: €10 regular via sinematranstopia.de
📍 SİNEMA TRANSTOPIA (Berlin)

بیگانه (Bigana)
Siddiq Barmak, Afghanistan, 1987, 40 min. Farsi with English subtitles

فیلمرغ (Elephantbird)
Amir Masoud Souheili, Afghanistan, Iran, 2018, 15 min. Dari with English subtitles

Moshtari Hilal photo by Prissilya Junewin

29/09/2026

SHAME AND MONEY: Visar Morina on the price of dignity

After losing their rural livelihood, Shaban, Hatixhe and their three daughters move to Pristina. But the city offers little respite. As Shaban searches for work and the family struggles to make ends meet, money becomes inseparable from questions of pride, masculinity and dignity.
Following his 2020 film Exile, Visar Morina’s latest feature is a tense, closely observed drama about what happens when hard work no longer guarantees security. The further Shaban pushes himself to provide for his family, the more difficult it becomes to separate earning a living from proving his worth.
Combining restrained social realism with nuanced performances by Astrit Kabashi and Flonja Kodheli, Shame and Money is an incisive portrait of the humiliations and compromises that accompany economic insecurity.

Shame and Money
Visar Morina, Kosovo, Germany, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia, Belgium, 2026, 130 min. Albanian with English subtitles

Screening as part of SİNELECTION:

THU 01.10. 20:00 +
WED 07.10. 20:30 +
SAT 17.10. 18:00 +
THU 22.10. 18:00

🎟️ TICKETS: €10 regular | €7 with via sinematranstopia.de
📍 (Berlin)