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Staatsschutz

Prosecution
Panorama 2026
© Lotta Kilian / Jünglinge Film
With all the resources and authority of the state behind her, young prosecutor Seyo Kim is determined to confront far-right violence in eastern Germany. But when she, herself, becomes a target – surviving a racist attack on her life – Seyo decides to investigate on her own, defying explicit orders from her superiors and putting her life further at risk. Seyo finally succeeds in bringing one of the attackers to trial and fights to expose him as part of a wider right-wing network. She digs deep into her office’s archives, reopens long-closed “isolated cases” and manoeuvres seemingly harmless witnesses into revealing their ties – not only to the network but also to the attack on her own life. Germany’s public prosecution service is the most objective institution in the world – or so the myth goes. But throughout the trial, Seyo learns firsthand what it means to entrust the pursuit of justice to a state that applies double standards and not only downplays far-right violence, but at times even protects it.
by Faraz Shariat (Director), Claudia Schaefer (Screenplay), Jee-Un Kim (Screenplay), Dr. Sun-Ju Choi (Screenplay)
with Chen Emilie Yan, Julia Jentsch, Alev Irmak, Arnd Klawitter, Sebastian Urzendowsky Germany 2026 German, Korean 113' Colour World premiere

With

  • Chen Emilie Yan (Seyo Kim)
  • Julia Jentsch (Alexandra Tiedemann)
  • Alev Irmak (Ayten Alican)
  • Arnd Klawitter (OStA Forch)
  • Sebastian Urzendowsky (OStA Quant)

Crew

Director Faraz Shariat
Screenplay Claudia Schaefer, Jee-Un Kim, Dr. Sun-Ju Choi
Cinematography Lotta Kilian
Editing Friederike Hohmuth
Music Gabríel Ólafs
Sound Design Henning Hein
Production Design Dario Mendez Acosta
Costumes Tabassom Charaf
Make-Up Lucia Binta Lammertmann, Stella Gade
Casting Andrea Rodríguez
Producers Paulina Lorenz, Jorgo Narjes, Faraz Shariat

Produced by

Jünglinge Film

Berlin, Germany

World Sales

New Europe Film Sales

Warschau, Poland

Photos

Faraz Shariat

© David Uzochukwu

The filmmaker founded the production company Jünglinge Film with Paulina Lorenz in 2015. The company went on to produce his debut feature film, Futur Drei, which premiered in the Berlinale Panorama in 2020 and won, among other accolades, two Teddy and two First Steps awards. Since then, he has directed episodes of The Baby and Zeit Verbrechen (Panorama 2024) and produced the series Schwarze Früchte, which screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2024. He is a fellow of the Villa Aurora in Los Angeles and is currently developing his first English-language project. Staatsschutz is his second feature film.

Filmography

2015 Ich bin euer Sohn; short documentary 2020 Aïcha; short film · Futur Drei (No Hard Feelings); Berlinale 2020 2024 Zeit Verbrechen; series, episode: "Love by Proxy", Berlinale 2024 2026 Staatsschutz (Prosecution); Berlinale 2026

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2026