About

Zeynep is an award-winning producer and journalist based in Istanbul. She has produced documentaries, features, podcasts and news for international media organizations, including Vice, Showtime, BBC, CNN, The Associated Press and independent filmmakers.

Zeynep won an Emmy for Best Long Form News Coverage as part of the Vice team that made the Return of the Taliban: A VICE Special Report (2021), in which she helped film the plight of Afghans fleeing their country as well as Turkish efforts to stop illegal migration onto Europe.

Zeynep was the field producer in Turkey for the BBC’s television documentary The Shamima Begum Story (2023), which was awarded a BAFTA in Current Affairs. She also produced and appeared on the multi-award winning BBC Sounds podcast I'm Not a Monster: The Shamima Begum Story (2023), investigating the polarizing British teenager's journey from Bethnal Green to Syria to join ISIS.

Zeynep has collaborated on other award-winning productions as well, including Showtime Documentary Film's Emmy-winning Kingdom of Silence (2020) about murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Her latest film is First Frames (2024), an independent documentary on children learning photography as they contend with issues of displacement, memory and access to education following the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria. The film, which is currently in festivals, was commissioned and supported by WePresent and Sony.

Zeynep focused on Near Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago (BA) and New York University (MA). Zeynep draws on her academic background and a decade covering the news to tell deeper and more nuanced stories about the region.

Zeynep is bilingual in Turkish and English and is HEFAT-trained. She’s available for development and assignments. CV upon request.