State Protection at filmforum Duisburg: Political cinema with great impact
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State Protection: A stirring thriller about law, power, and resistance
On Friday, November 13, 2026, filmforum Duisburg will showcase Faraz Shariat's multi-award winning thriller State Protection. An intense stage experience begins in the cinema hall at 20:15, combining political urgency with precise acting and a suffocating theatrical atmosphere.
When the rule of law itself becomes the scene of conflict
The story centers around the young prosecutor Seyo Kim, played by Chen Emilie Yan. After a racist attack on her person, she refuses to leave the investigation to the slow workings of her agency. Against explicit instructions, she begins to investigate the background herself and uncovers a right-wing network, old files, and institutional defense mechanisms.
What begins as a courtroom drama evolves into a tension-filled political thriller about responsibility, loyalty, and the question of how much resistance a system can withstand from within. The production intertwines personal threat with societal analysis, giving the conflict an immediate, almost physical presence.
A lead role balancing vulnerability and determination
Chen Emilie Yan carries the film with a performance that makes Seyo Kim appear vulnerable, focused, and unwavering. Alongside her are Julia Jentsch, Alev Irmak, Arnd Klawitter, and Sebastian Urzendowsky. The acting thrives on glances, tensions, and moments where every silence speaks louder than a plea.
The dramaturgy guides the audience through a world in which private fear and political reality inextricably intertwine. Bicycle attacks, arson, court proceedings, and bureaucratic conversation spaces consolidate into stations of research that delve deeper into the blind spots of state institutions.
Set design, light, and sound as political atmosphere
The visual design by Lotta Kilian enhances the feeling of constant threat. Tight spaces, harsh contrasts, and a nervous visual dynamism provide the narrative with a claustrophobic foundation. The music by Gabriel Ólafs emphasizes this tension with striking string sounds and creates an acoustics that makes restlessness palpable rather than illustrative.
Thus, a sensual stage experience is created in the cinema hall: the light acts like an interrogation, the editing like a cut through dusty bureaucratic files, and each new clue shifts the perspective on guilt and responsibility. The theatrical atmosphere of the filmforum, reminiscent of a cinema palace from the 1950s while also offering modern media technology, provides the perfect resonance space for this.
Award-winning cinema with societal impact
State Protection was awarded the Audience Award for Best Feature Film in the Panorama section of the Berlinale. Additionally, it received the CICAE Art Cinema Award and the Heiner Carow Prize from the DEFA Foundation. These awards highlight a production that consistently connects political presence, genre tension, and cinematic form.
The film runs for 114 minutes and is rated for audiences aged 12 and older. It focuses on racism, right-wing violence, and the fragility of institutional objectivity without reducing its characters to mere theses. The production draws its emotional power precisely from this.
Conclusion: An evening that resonates
The audience can expect a concentrated, stirring stage experience that blends thriller, courtroom drama, and political analysis. State Protection demands attention, provokes dissent, and opens spaces for the question of how justice remains possible in a damaged system. Anyone experiencing cinema as a societal resonance space should witness this performance live at filmforum Duisburg.
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