'No Release' Screening and Panel Discussion

Description

The screening of 'No Release' was followed by a discussion with Dr Monish Bhatia (University of York), Sînziana Cojocărescu (Film Writer and Director, BÉZNĂ Theatre) and panellists such as Takura Makoni (ACSONI) and Dr Teresa Degenhart, facilitated by Prof Dina Zoe Belluigi who organised the event with financial support from the Centre for Inclusion, Transformation and Equality (SSESW, Queen's University Belfast).

About the film:

No Release is based on research and interviews conducted by Dr Bhatia as part of his project Immigration, Location Tracking and Control, funded by a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship. The film tells the story of two migrant men who, after their release from prison, face a new form of punishment: continuous GPS surveillance enforced by the UK immigration system.

The film explores the long-term effects of state control on the body, mind, and identity — from mandatory sign-ins, curfews and exclusions to the psychological strain of indefinite monitoring. It exposes how deportability, stigma and fear erode dignity and perpetuate a cycle of punishment without end.

No Release stands in solidarity with those targeted by intersecting systems of immigration control and criminal justice. It highlights how poverty, displacement, lack of citizenship, and the gendered and racialised construction of “risk” compound the punitive treatment of migrants. The film lays bare the machinery of surveillance and exclusion that inflicts suffering and makes rebuilding one’s life nearly impossible.

Produced by BÉZNĂ Theatre, an international political theatre company known for work confronting social violence, No Release was written and directed by Sînziana Cojocărescu.

Period	13 Mar 2026
Event type	Other
Location	Belfast, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International