alessiacamoirano
Documentary director & producer
Alessia Camoirano Bruges is an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist based in London. Born in Northern Italy with Colombian heritage and raised across several countries, she brings a multilingual and multicultural perspective to stories about crime, power, inequality and the people living at their intersection.
In 2025, Alessia was selected for the Edinburgh TV Festival’s prestigious Visionaries: Ones to Watch programme, recognising emerging talent shaping the future of British television.
Her BBC Two directorial debut, Britain’s Forgotten Girls, investigated the sexual and criminal exploitation of girls by drug gangs and the systemic failures that allowed many of them to fall through the gaps. Built around the testimony of women speaking publicly about their experiences, the film received widespread critical acclaim, including four-star reviews from The Guardian, The Times and The Telegraph, and prompted a wider conversation about how exploited girls are identified, understood and protected.
Alessia’s investigative work has taken her deep inside criminal organisations, law enforcement, prisons, cults, recovery communities and other closed worlds. Her credits include The Teenage Mafia Academy, Amsterdam Narcos and Ibiza Narcos, with work appearing across the BBC, Sky, VICE, Channel 4 and Discovery.
She is particularly known for gaining rare access and building trust with contributors in sensitive, high-risk environments. Her practice is trauma-informed and rooted in patience, transparency and non-judgement, allowing people to retain agency over how their experiences are represented. Contributors frequently speak to Alessia about experiences they have never previously shared publicly.
As a director, Alessia believes documentary deserves the same visual ambition as narrative cinema. Cinematography is central to her storytelling, not simply as a means of recording events but as a language through which character, atmosphere and emotional experience can be expressed. Her work combines a strong visual sensibility with investigative rigour, shaping complex and multi-layered subjects into films that remain accessible without simplifying the people or systems at their centre.
Violence against women and girls has become an important strand of Alessia’s work. From sexual exploitation and coercive control to domestic abuse and femicide, she is interested in the structures that allow abuse to remain hidden, the institutions that fail to recognise it, and the consequences for the women and girls caught within those systems. Her work seeks to centre survivors without reducing them to what happened to them.
Alongside directing and producing, Alessia is an experienced on-camera journalist and presenter, able to navigate complex investigations while building genuine relationships with contributors and audiences.
Her wider creative practice also includes visual art and animation. She directed Ricardito lo Squalo, an animated film exploring environmental awareness, bullying and self-acceptance, which was released theatrically and has subsequently been shown in schools across Europe. Alessia is also a practising visual artist whose fluid abstract paintings sit alongside her filmmaking as part of the same creative practice.
She is fluent in English, Italian and Spanish, with additional knowledge of French, German and Portuguese.
RECENT WORK HIGHLIGHTS
Britain's Forgotten Girls
“The countless failures of the authorities … will leave you completely incensed.” — The Guardian ★★★★
“This excellent film.” — The Times ★★★★
“The documentary is powerful when the girls tell their stories.” — The Telegraph ★★★★
“The survivors are uniformly impressive – calm, articulate, unsparingly honest.” - The Observer
Britain’s Forgotten Girls is an investigation into the sexual and criminal exploitation of girls by drug gangs in the UK, and the failures that have left their experiences overlooked and misunderstood.
At the heart of the film are five women reflecting on what happened to them as children, and on the ways institutions responded, or failed to respond, when they needed protection. Their testimony challenges long-held assumptions about who is recognised as a victim, how exploitation presents itself, and why the experiences of girls have so often remained out of view.
I developed, produced and directed the documentary, working closely with contributors and securing access across policing, frontline services and specialist organisations. The film was made through a trauma-informed approach, with contributor welfare and agency central to the editorial process.
Broadcast on BBC Two in September 2026, the film received four-star reviews from The Guardian, The Times and The Telegraph and prompted wider discussion around the experiences of girls affected by gang-related exploitation.
Directed, produced and developed by Alessia Camoirano Bruges
Amsterdam Narcos
Amsterdam Narcos is a premium three-part docudrama series charting how Amsterdam went from a liberal countercultural city into what some began calling Europe’s “drug capital” from the 1970s through to the early 2000s. Told through personal testimony from producers, traffickers and the detectives trying to stop them, the series traces the explosion from hash smuggling and tolerant drug policy into organised crime empires, an ecstasy boom, and sophisticated cocaine trafficking networks that fed a pipeline of drugs and violence across Europe.
Produced and Developed by Alessia Camoirano Bruges
Ibiza Narcos
A premium documentary three part series that explores the darker, hidden side of the famous party island of Ibiza, focusing on its connections to drug trafficking and organized crime. The series delves into how the island, known globally for its nightlife and electronic music scene, also became a hub for narcotics, drawing the attention of international drug cartels and law enforcement agencies.
The show blends documentary elements with dramatized reenactments, offering viewers an inside look at the operations of criminal organizations, the impact of the drug trade on the local community, and the efforts by authorities to combat the illegal activities. It also examines the cultural and social aspects of Ibiza, juxtaposing its hedonistic reputation with the underlying issues of crime and corruption.
The series typically features interviews with law enforcement, former criminals, and locals, alongside dramatized scenes to bring the stories to life.
Produced by Alessia Camoirano Bruges
Teenage Mafia Academy
"Teenage Mafia Academy" is a documentary that provides an inside look at the recruitment and training of young people by the Italian mafia. The film delves into how criminal organizations groom teenagers to become the next generation of mafia members, often starting at a very young age. The documentary goes behind the scenes to reveal how these criminal groups strategically use social media not only to show off but also to identify and groom potential new members. The film features rare and candid interviews with current mafia member. The film uncovers how mafia members flaunt their wealth, power, and lifestyle on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to attract impressionable teenagers. By showcasing luxury cars, lavish parties, and a sense of belonging, they create an alluring image of the mafia life that appeals to vulnerable youth.
This documentary was nominated for an Emmy.
Produced and presented by Alessia Camoirano Bruges
Inside a Secret Alien Society
Produced and presented by Alessia Camoirano Bruges