Annalisa Piras is a London-based Italian film director/writer, journalist and CEO of Springshot Productions. A former London correspondent for L'Espresso magazine and La7 TV, she studied Political Science, History and Cinematography in Rome. She has 25 years experience in the production of documentaries and programmes which have been broadcast by BBC, RAI, Euronews and LA7, among others. In 1993 she was among the founding journalists who launched the news channel Euronews, where she was in charge of a daily news programme on the EU. A frequent broadcaster and commentator on European and Italian affairs, she was the first Italian President of the London Foreign Press Association, founded in 1888. In 2012 she directed, produced and wrote Girlfriend in a Coma (2012), feature documentary on Italy, co-written with Bill Emmott. In 2014 she directed, produced and wrote The Great European Disaster Movie, a feature documentary on the crisis of the EU, executively produced by Bill Emmott, co-produced by BBC, Arte and other 6 EU broadcasters. She is the director of the Wake Up Foundation, an educational charity she founded with Bill Emmott.

Her 2017 documentary, Europe at Sea, examines whether Europe is capable – and willing – to combat the myriad security and humanitarian challenges within and beyond its borders. The film obtained unprecedented access to Federica Mogherini, the then chief of EU Foreign and Security Policy at a pivotal moment of European history. Europe at Sea contains never-before-seen footage of the migrant crisis and offers a unique insight into the workings of the first joint EU naval fleet in the Southern Mediterranean Sea, Operation Sophia, on which Springshot’s crew were embedded.

read more