Vera is running a series of virtual workshops on the examination of how autocratic regimes—using Russia as a prominent example applicable to many other contexts—seek to control the media.
Vera graduated from the Russian State Institute of Performing Arts, Music and Cinematography in 1996. She also received a diploma in feature film direction from the High Courses for Scriptwriters and Film Directors. In 1997, she joined NTV (Russia), where she worked as a director and producer of various projects. From 2005 to 2008, she worked in Ukraine in Viktor Pinchuk's Starlight Media, and launched The Freedom of Speech with Savik Shuster on the ICTV (Ukraine) ICTV channel. In 2008 Vera joined Natalia Sindeeva in a launch of the only independent news TV Station in Russia - TV Rain (Dozhd). In 2014 Vera moved to London, UK. In 2019 she launched her UK film production company Six Days Film. Her feature documentaries include Tango with Putin (aka F@ck this Job), The Citizen Poet, The Man Who Was Too Free, and The Case (Delo Sobchaka).
Co-Founder of Dozhd TV (TV Rain), Moscow, the only independent news TV station in Russian language, in exile from February 24th, 2022.
Multi - award winning TV Director:
1991 – 1993 Reporter, St.-Petersburg, Russia, “SMENA” newspaper.
1993 – 1995 Reporter, St.-Petersburg, Channel 5 1996 – 2002 NTV Channel, Russia, TV Director, and Producer, Senior Director
2005 – 2008 ICTV Channel, Ukraine, Senior Director, and Senior Producer of weekly Political Talk Show “Freedom of speech.”
2008 – 2011 Senior Producer, co-founder of Dozhd TV (TV Rain)
2011 - 2012 Senior (founding) Producer of 24DOC TV Channel (current affair documentaries from around the globe)
2012 The Citizen Poet, Documentary, director and author, theatre, and DVD release 2013 World Press Institute Fellowship, USA
2014 Move to the UK
2016 The Man Who Was Too Free, Documentary, director, co-author and co-producer, theatre release
2019 The Case, Documentary, director, and co-author. 2019 Six Days Film – UK film production launch
2021 F@ck This Job (‘Tango with Putin’ – BBC title), Documentary, UK – Germany. International Release 2022
2022 – 2023 Co-founder of the EU TV Rain (Dozhd TV) in Amsterdam, Netherlands 2024 The Last Journey documentary, work in progress.
Independent Media vs. Pseudo-Democracy and Totalitarian Regimes: Journalism, Activism, and the Battle Against Censorship
The Russian media 1991 - 2024: Transition from the Soviet Union to democracy and a full turn back. Current Affair Documentaries: rules, access, impact.
2022 "F@CK THIS JOB" Documentary, UK - Germany, BBC title "Tango with Putin"
2019 "The Case" Documentary
2016 "The Man Who Was Too Free" Documentary