Prosecution, a thriller directed by Faraz Shariat that had its world premiere in the Panorama section of the Berlinale, has been sold to France’s Memento. New Europe Film Sales is handling worldwide sales.
The film centers on Seyo Kim, a young prosecutor determined to take on far-right violence in eastern Germany. But when Se-yo, who survived a racist attack, becomes a target himself, he decides to go against the explicit orders of his superiors and risk his life and career to investigate on his own.
When one of the attackers is finally brought to justice, Seyo struggles to expose him as part of a broader right-wing network. Digging deep into the office’s archives, reopening long-closed “orphan cases” and manipulating witnesses to uncover not just the network, but the attack on her own life and its ties to the justice system.
The cast stars Emily Cheng, Julia Jentsch, Alev Irmak, Arnt Kravitter, and Sebastian Urzendowski. The screenwriter is Claudia Schäfer, and the producers are Paulina Lorenz, Giorgo Narges, and Shariat of Junglinge Film.
Shariat is a German-Iranian filmmaker whose debut feature film, Futur Drei, premiered at the 2020 Berlinale and won the festival’s Teddy Award for Best Queer Film. Partly autobiographical, “Futur Drei” tells the story of a confidently “out” second-generation German-born Iranian who falls in love with an Iranian refugee who has recently arrived in the West.
Since then, Faraz has directed episodes of the series “Druck,” as well as the British high-end horror comedy “The Baby” for HBO/Sky and the German true crime anthology series “Zeit Verbrechen” (Paramount+). He executive produced the critically acclaimed drama Schwarze Früchte (ARD), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2024 and was released in Germany in October 2024 to critical acclaim.
Shariat is a fellow at Villa Aurora in Los Angeles and is currently developing his English-language debut, The Beach Boy, with Ottessa Moshfegh.
