Anthony Wonke

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Anthony Wonke
Occupations	Film maker, director, producer
Notable work	Ronaldo, Fire in the Night, The Tower: A Tale of Two Cities

Anthony Wonke is an Emmy and triple BAFTA-winning British film director, and an Oscar- nominated and Emmy-winning executive producer. Working across cinematic documentaries, feature films, television series, and high-end commercials. He has also received the Prix Italia, Peabody, Grierson, RTS, and One World Media awards for his work. His films are noted for combining intelligence, visual flair, and emotional insight, and have premiered at festivals across the US, Canada, Asia, Europe, and the UK, as well as being screened on Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Sky, the BBC, Channel 4, HBO, PBS, and Arte. In 2026 he made his debut as a narrative feature director with In the Shadows, starring Jasmine Jobson. For commercials, Wonke is represented by Partizan and has directed campaigns for Global brands including Google, Johnnie Walker, Vodafone, Expedia, Uber, Jaguar, and DAZN, earning nominations and awards at Cannes Lions, the Clios, and the British Arrows.

Career

Wonke's most recent film is In the Shadows (2026), his debut narrative feature, starring Jasmine Jobson. It's having its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival, ahead of a UK theatrical release on 30 October 2026.

The same year, he directed The Decision, a feature documentary on the life and career of former Argentine president Mauricio Macri, produced by Oscar winning Frida Torresblanco for Hangtime Films.

In 2024, he directed The Accidental Spy, a feature documentary on Blerim Skoro, an American CIA and FBI informant who infiltrated al-Qaeda after being recruited from a Manhattan prison following 9/11. The film had its world premiere at the Warsaw International Film Festival, where it was nominated for Best Documentary Feature in the Documentary Competition; it went on to win Best Documentary Feature at the Seoul Whistler Film Festival and Best Documentary Director at the Silk Road International Film Festival. It is now streaming on Amazon.

In 2022, he directed Dettori, a feature documentary on the life and career of champion jockey Frankie Dettori, produced by Embankment Films and Trombone Pictures for Sky. It was nominated for the FOCAL International Award for Best Use of Footage in a Sports Production, shared with Jack Lee Taylor and Nick Ryle.

In 2020, he directed The Man Who Walked Around the World, which received an official selection at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

In 2019, he directed Unmasking Jihadi John: Anatomy of a Terrorist, a feature documentary

for HBO on the identity of the ISIS executioner known as "Jihadi John." It was nominated for a BAFTA (Best Current Affairs Documentary, 2020), an International Emmy, and a Grierson Award.

In 2018, his feature documentary The Director and the Jedi, following director Rian Johnson during the making of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and produced for Lucasfilm/Disney, had its world premiere at SXSW.

In 2015, Wonke released two theatrical documentary features: Ronaldo, released by Universal Pictures, an intimate portrait of footballer Cristiano Ronaldo produced by the makers of Senna and Amy; and Being AP, released by BBC Films on champion jump jockey A. P. McCoy, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In 2014, he directed Children on the Frontline, a documentary for Channel 4 and Arte on children living through the Syrian civil war, co-directed with Marcel Mettelsiefen. The film received 16 awards in total, including an Emmy, two BAFTAs, the Prix Italia, a Peabody Award, an RTS Award, a Grierson Award, and a One World Media Award.

In 2013, he directed Fire in the Night, a theatrical documentary on the Piper Alpha disaster, produced by STV for Creative Scotland/BBC. It won the Audience Award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Best Single Documentary at the BAFTA Scotland awards, where it was also nominated for the Audience Film Award and Best Feature Film.

In 2012, he directed three films: The Battle for Marjah, made with Ben Anderson for HBO/Channel 4, which followed a US Marine platoon in Afghanistan and was nominated for three Emmy Awards, winning the History Makers Award for Best Current Affairs; Crack House USA, made for MSNBC/More4 about a Chicago drug gang brought down by a federal wiretap, which was nominated for a BAFTA for Factual Photography; and Gymnast, a documentary following the British Olympic gymnastics squad, shot with exclusive access in 2008 and broadcast on BBC Two.

Around 2009, he directed The £800M Railway Station, a six-part series for BBC Two on the renovation of St Pancras International, which was nominated for a Broadcasting Press Guild Award.

In 2008, he directed The Tower: A Tale of Two Cities, an eight-part BBC One documentary series that he directed and series-produced over three years, following a London tower block being sold as luxury flats amid one of the city's poorest estates. It won the BAFTA for Best Factual Series and the RTS Award for Factual Editing, and was nominated for a Grierson Award and a Broadcast Award.

As executive producer, Wonke's credits include Watani: My Homeland (2016), a 40-minute documentary following a family's escape from the Syrian Civil War, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.

Wonke is represented for film and television by Casarotto Ramsay & Associates, and for commercials by Partizan.

Personal life

Wonke lives in North London.

Filmography

Executive producer

Director

Awards and honours

References

External links

• Casarotto Ramsay and Associates
• Anthony Wonke's page at IMDb