Associate Professor Romana Turina
Associate Professor – BA (Hons) Film ProductionPhD, MA, PGCE, FHEA, SEDAOverview
Dr Romana Turina is a screenwriter, filmmaker and historian. While leading research for the Heritage, Collections and Archives Research Group at AUB, Romana questions instances of storytelling and discourse formation in heritage, collections and archival forms, both in written texts, photography, and film forms, and in relation to material culture, silenced history, postmemory, auto-ethnographic works, and the connection between folklore and myth.
As the leader for the SIG Essay Film Form of the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS), as a member of the Screenwriting Research Network (SRN), but also as a member of the SIG Narrative and Complex Systems of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Narrative Studies of the University of York, Romana leads professional and academic research in screenwriting, the representation of borders and boundaries, and the essay film form. Within her professional service, Romana served as a Juror for the 2025 Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award Competition, which is organised by the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation, New York (US).
Recently, Romana completed the essay film and installation entitled Three Sisters in a Sketchbook (2024), which won Best Biographical Film at the Toronto International Women Film Festival 2025 and Best Short Documentary at the LA Independent Film Channel Festival (November 2024). The film was selected as a finalist at the Tokyo International Short Film Festival 2025, the LA Independent Women Film Awards 2024, and the Hollywood Independent Filmmaker Awards and Festivals 2024. Romana's creative practice includes the award-winning essay films Lunch with Family (2016) and San Sabba (2016), which were shortlisted for the AHRC Research in Film Awards and awarded at the Hollywood International Independent Documentary Awards 2018. Her films can be watched online on various platforms, including the British Council – UK Films Database, a database of new and recent UK-produced and UK co-produced films. Publications include Edited Anthologies, Special Issues of the Journal of Screenwriting, and articles in academic and professional journals (see AUBREI).
Before joining AUB, Romana taught creative writing and screenwriting at the University of Indianapolis, the University of York, and the University of Greenwich.
Contact:
Qualifications
Qualifications
- PhD Theatre, Film and Television (University of York)
- MA Screenwriting (Bournemouth University)
- MA English (University of Indianapolis)
Teaching Qualification
- PGCE Creative Education (University of the Creative Arts)
- SEDA Supervising Research Degrees (University of the Arts London)
Teaching
- Storytelling – BFS, Arts University Bournemouth
- Screenwriting – BFS, Arts University Bournemouth.
- Comparative Screenwriting – SRN (Screenwriting Research Network).
- Screenwriting – Film Department, University of York; Film Department.
- Screenwriting – Film Department, University of Greenwich.
- Non-Fiction – Film Department, University of York.
- Non-Fiction – English Department, University of Indianapolis.
- Adaptation – Film Department, University of York; English Department, University of Indianapolis; Film Department, Univerity of Greenwich.
- Literature into Film – English Department, University of Indianapolis.
- Creative Practice – BFS, Arts University Bournemouth; Film Department, University of York; English Department, University of Indianapolis.
- Film Research and Development – Film Department, University of York.
- PhD supervision – BFS, Arts University Bournemouth
Courses
My Teaching Gallery
Research
Research Interests and Projects
Screenwriting, creative writing, documentary, fiction, in relation to instances of storytelling and discourse formation in heritage, collections and archival forms, both in written texts, photography, and film forms, and in relation to material culture, silenced history, postmemory, auto-ethnographic works, and folklore relation to mythology.
Research Supervision
My background in comparative literature, equipped me with an interest in the translation of difficult realities in literature, and film. As an academic, I am interested in innovative and original research looking at the act of writing. Primarily, writing (and screenwriting) as a form of research and exploration in the translation and communication (into a variety of formats) of layered realities and complex systems in the humanities and sciences alike. Also, I am interested in creative practice as a method of research for the advancement of democratic practice of engagement, both in non-fiction and fiction.
My Research Gallery
Professional Engagement
PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT:
- Juror for the 2025 Sir Peter Ustinov Television Scriptwriting Award Competition, The International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation, New York (US).
BOOKS:
- Turina, R. (2027). The Objects of Creative Practice – An Autoethnography of Inherited Exile. London: Routledge.
- Rayner, J. & Turina R. (Eds.), (2027). Cinematic Borders and the Boundaries of Film: Political, Cultural and Historical Landscapes. New York: Peter Lang.
- Turina, R. (2026). Of the Silent Permanence: Diary of Autoethnographic Work in Postmemory and the Essay Film. Venice: Bucanevis Press.
- Turina, R. & Tianqi Yu, K. (Eds.), (2025). Essay Film and Narrative Techniques: Screen-writing Non-fiction. Bristol: Intellect. ISBN 9781835951477.
CHAPTERS:
- The Political Gesture: Screenwriting the Essay Film Through Archive and Testimony, in Rascaroli, L. and Busetta, L. (2026), The Oxford Handbook of Personal Cinema and Video. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- 'Independent, short and controversial: the script development of San Sabba', in Batty C. and Taylor S. (2022), Script Development: International Perspectives. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- ‘Narrative Experiences of History and Complex System’, in Walsh, R. & Stepney, S. (2018), Narrating Complexity, New York: Springer, pp. 123-141.
- Re-Making the Northeast: Trieste in Italian Cinema and the Remediation of Silenced History’, in Rayner J & Dobson, J, (2016), Mapping Cinematic Norths, New York: Peter Lang, pp. 223-240.
JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS:
- Turina, R. (Ed.) (2025). Screenwriting and AI: Emerging Theories, Modes and Practices. Journal of Screenwriting, Special Issue., Nov 2025: DOI
- Turina, R., Dooley, K. (Eds.) (2023). Virtual Reality: Exploring Technologies, Practices and Paradigms. Journal of Screenwriting, Special Issue., 02/02/2024: DOI
- Turina, R., Tremblay, G. (Eds.) (2022). The New Screenplay? Emerging Styles, Modes and Languages. Journal of Screenwriting, Special Issue. , 02/12/2022: DOI
- ‘Out in the open and invisible: the city as archive in the essay film San Sabba’, Landscape Research Journal, Special Issue: The City as Cinematic Archive, 19/10/2021: DOI.
- 'Autoethnography and Postmemory: A Methodology for the Use of Film Forms as Research’. Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media, Issue 17, Summer 2019: DOI.
- 'Screenwriting Animation in the Essay Film : the challenges presented by Silenced History’, Journal of Screenwriting. Vol 9.03. December 2018, pp.297-316: DOI.
- 'Lunch with Family’, Screenworks, Volume 8.1, January 2018: DOI.
My Professional Engagement Gallery
Awards and Prizes
Notable awards/prizes
Romana completed the essay film and installation entitled Three Sisters in a Sketchbook (2024), which won as Best Biographical Film at the Toronto International Women Film Festival 2025; and as Best Short Documentary at the LA Independent Film Channel Festival (November 2024). The film was selected as finalist at Tokyo International Short Film Festival 2025, the LA Independent Women Film Awards 2024, and the Hollywood Independent Filmmaker Awards and Festivals 2024.
COMPLETED FILMS AND ONGOING PROJECTS:
- Turina, R. (2028), essay film entitled: Thirst – Director and Writer. Bucanevis Production, IT/UK (in pre-production).
- Turina, R. (2027), essay film entitled: Those who refused to stand still: Motorsport beyond the Iron Curtain: – Director and Writer. Bucanevis Production, IT/UK (in pre-production).
- Turina, R. (2024), essay film entitled: Three Sisters in a Sketchbook – Director and Writer. Bucanevis Production, IT/UK/HR/SLO.
- Turina, R. (2016), essay film entitled: San Sabba – Director and Writer. Printing Press Production, UK.
- Turina, R. (2016), essay film entitled: Lunch with Family – Director and Writer. Printing Press Production, UK.
- Turina, R. (2015), short film entitled: Behind the Book – Director and Writer. Printing Press Production, UK.
My Awards and Prizes Gallery
Memberships
Advance HE Membership
- Fellow (FHEA)
Professional Memberships
- Screenwriting Research Network (SRN)
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Narrative Studies – University of York, UK
- British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS)
- International Association of Media and History (IAMH)
- NECS – European Network for Cinema and Media Studies
- International Association of Autoethnography and Narrative Inquiry
- The International Society for Folk Narrative Research