This workshop brings together the screening of two documentaries, NO RELEASE and REMOVED, followed by a panel discussion and an open Q&A on creative approaches to documenting carceral border violence, as well as exploring decarceral and abolitionist futures.

Organized in collaboration between CIES-Iscte and the Migration Hub, ICS-ULisboa.

VENUE

Room 104, Building 4 (Iscte)

TIME 

10:00 am - 11:30 am (Lisbon time)

PROGRAMME

Film Screenings: NO RELEASE and REMOVED

Panel Discussion:

• Monish Bhatia (University of York)

• Francesca Esposito (University of Bologna)

Chair: Nina Amelung (CIES-Iscte)

ABOUT THE FILMS

NO RELEASE (2025) | Docu-Drama

Based on research and interviews conducted by Dr. Monish Bhatia (funded by a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship), NO RELEASE tells the story of two migrant men who, after their release from prison, face 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 to the psychological strain of indefinite monitoring. It exposes how deportability, stigma, and fear erode dignity, standing in solidarity with those targeted by intersecting systems of immigration control and criminal justice.

• Written & Directed by: Sînziana Cojocãrescu

• Academic/Researcher: Dr. Monish Bhatia

• Produced by: BÉZNÃ Theatre (Claire Gilbert)

• Cast: Janeks Babidorics and Farshid Rokey

• Crew: Tom Pilling (DP), Katia Hiver (AD), Adina Istate (Sound), Sofia Paradis (Make Up), Akhil Kumar (Editor)

REMOVED (2024) | Animation

REMOVED tells the story of Hope, a woman taken from her home in the middle of the night — without warning or trial — to an immigration removal centre. The film reveals the racist-gendered violence of immigration detention, advancing a feminist abolitionist analysis.

The animation is the culmination of research by Dr. Francesca Esposito into the gendered harms of detention. Co-created as a collaborative effort to bring viewers closer to the realities of detention, the project aims to increase public knowledge on state violence.

• Directors: The Unchained Collective and Association of Visitors to Immigration Detention (AVID)

• Writers: The Unchained Collective and Elahe Zivardar (Shakiba Productions)

• Producers: The Unchained Collective, AVID and Border Criminologies

• Animation & Illustration: Moonchausen, Ordinary Toucan, Elahe Zivardar, Lulù Cancrini, Marta Bianchi, Martina Musio, Micol Nacamulli

• Sound & Music: Alessio Dagianti, Ordinary Toucan, Hear Me Out Music (performed by people in detention centres)

• Narration: Aminata Kalokoh

SPEAKERS

Francesca Esposito is a Researcher at the Department of Psychology ‘Renzo Canestrari’ (University of Bologna) and an Associate Director at Border Criminologies. With over 15 years of experience working alongside survivors of intimate and state violence, her research examines detention violence through an intersectional abolitionist lens.

Monish Bhatia is a sociologist and critical criminologist at the University of York, researching the racialised governance of migration, state violence, and the expanding architectures of immigration control. He holds a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship (2024–25).