Dr. Latif Taş (Department of Law and Criminology, Aberystwyth University, UK) has announced the completion of his documentary film HOPE: In the Shadows of the Bosphorus. The 78-minute film has already received international recognition, including the Best Jury Choice Award from the ARFF International Amsterdam Film Festival Selection Committee, prior to its official release. Invitations for screenings and talks have been extended by universities and film festivals in the United States, Germany, Turkey, France, and the United Kingdom.

HOPE offers a comprehensive and original exploration of the cultural and social realities of diverse migrant communities in Istanbul. Focusing on both internal and transnational migrants—including Syrians, Kurds, Iranians, Arabs, and communities from Africa, Asia, and Europe—the film documents the complexities of life in a city often described as a place of opportunity, yet experienced by many as a site of uncertainty, marginalization, and survival.

Through intimate, character-driven narratives, the documentary engages themes of displacement, resilience, gendered experiences, and the negotiation of belonging within plural social contexts. It highlights how migrants navigate everyday life, reconstruct social worlds, and contribute to emerging forms of pluralistic coexistence, while also confronting exclusion and structural challenges.

The film will be of particular interest to scholars working in legal pluralism, migration studies, socio-legal studies, and anthropology of law, given its focus on lived normative diversity and the interaction of multiple cultural and social orders in an urban setting.

A trailer for the documentary is available here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/12OpP2wnH1T0AALWWVkEvH_wXYNY580mr/view?usp=share_link