Vania Turner is a Greek-British documentary filmmaker, cinematographer and editor. Her films deal with trauma, grief, survival and conflict. She has reported on the refugee crisis in Europe, the torture of Iraqi civilians at the hands of ISIS in Mosul, ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the aftermath of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth in Zimbabwe and Mozambique, migrant crossings in the Central Mediterranean Sea during Covid and more recently the wildfires that ravaged Greece.

From 2017-2019 she worked as the UN Refugee Agency's Africa producer and videographer, based in Nairobi and travelling widely to the deep field to film some of the world’s most neglected humanitarian crises. She  is a regular contributor to Guardian Documentaries and her cinematography and stories have appeared in various international outlets, such as TIME magazine and VICE, amongst others. 
 
Vania produces, shoots, scripts and edits her films, but also often produces, directs, edits or shoots in larger productions. While she primarily works on longterm projects that can last for months or even years, her experience in the deep field means she is comfortable parachuting into unstable situations and can source up fast.

Her latest documentary Girlhood, a 30-minute deep-dive into the world of teenage girls in the 2020s, won several awards and accolades, screening at some of the world's most important film festivals for children, like the  38th Chicago International Children's Film Festival. She is currently directing her first feature documentary that looks into child abuse, sexual violence and the possibility for redemption.

She twice received hostile environment trainings by the United Nations Department of Safety and Security in Iraq in 2016 and in Kenya in 2018 and is IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit Life Saver Course) certified. 

She is a graduate of the LSE where she received an MSc in Political Theory and holds a BA in English Literature & Creative Writing from the University of Warwick. 

Vania is available for commissions globally.

Previous speaking engagements include the 2019 International Conference on 'Media and Refugees' hosted by the Arab Institute for Human Rights in Tunis, where she spoke about the media representation of refugees in sub-Saharan Africa and 'Moving Forward to Eliminate Abusive Behavior of Adults Towards Children' hosted by the 24th International Olympia Children's Film Festival in Athens where she spoke about reporting on trauma, ethics and the power of cinema.