Runako Celina is a multi-award-winning investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker and reporter. She produces and fronts long-form investigations for BBC Eye and the BBC World Service, with work that spans undercover reporting, open-source investigation and cross-border storytelling about exploitation, race and power. Alongside her on-screen work, she has written for BBC News Online, BBC Future and appeared across broadcast platforms internationally.

Her work has been featured or discussed by outlets including the Financial Times, Al Jazeera, BBC 1Xtra Talks, Broadcast, The Guardian, BBC Focus on Africa, Woman’s Hour, Metro, The Independent, The Telegraph, Foreign Policy, Deutsche Welle, Euronews and others. Clips and features from her reporting have been republished and debated across six continents, reaching millions of viewers and readers. She was Grierson-nominated for Best Documentary Presenter, won the Debut Presenter Award at the Edinburgh TV Festival’s New Voice Awards 2023, and has also served as a judge for the One World Media New Voice Awards.

In 2025 she released Death in Dubai, a BBC Eye and Thread Studios documentary and six-part World of Secrets podcast. Produced, investigated and reported by Runako over two and a half years, the investigation uncovers the truth behind the viral online rumours surrounding the death of Ugandan woman Monic Karungi and traces networks of coercion and exploitation between Uganda and the UAE. The Financial Times described Celina as “respectful and compassionate,” noting that she avoids sensationalism while exposing wider themes of racism, misogyny, trafficking and the viciousness of the online world. Judges at the New Voice Awards called her work “journalistic integrity mixed with star quality that feels capable of crossing over into all areas of broadcasting.”

Her previous film, Racism for Sale (BBC Africa Eye, 2022), uncovered a multi-million-dollar Chinese video industry built on the racist exploitation of African children. The documentary has been viewed millions of times and was widely shared by political leaders, celebrities and activists around the world.

Her journalism has been discussed in parliaments, led to arrests, and sparked policy debates on accountability and representation. With her distinctive blend of rigorous open-source investigation, on-camera presence and cultural insight, she is establishing herself as one of the most compelling new voices in investigative documentary.

Runako speaks fluent Mandarin and holds an MSc in International Politics & African Studies from Peking University and an MA in Investigative Journalism from City, University of London.