about
Photo by Rafael Roy
Awards & Recognition
2023 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award
2023 - IRE Philip Meyer Journalism Award
2023 - Overseas Press Club Award
2023 - Online Journalism Award
2022 - DOC NYC 40 under 40 Honoree
2022 - Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation Journalism Prize - Honorable Mention, Distinguished Reporting on National Defense in 2021
2021 - Ida B. Wells Society Fellow
2021 - Northern California Emmy Award winner
2020 - Northern California Emmy Award nominee
2019 - Fleishacker Foundation Eureka Fellowship nominee
2017 - Marlon T. Riggs Fellowship - UC Berkeley
2017 - Overseas Press Club Foundation Scholar
2016 - Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds Beurs
Serginho Roosblad is an Emmy® Award-winning documentary filmmaker, investigative journalist, and visual storyteller. As a video producer for the Associated Press’ Global Investigations team, and the inaugural Ida B. Wells Society Fellow, he has worked on impactful narratives that hold power to account. His video journalism was a key component of the AP’s 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, recognized for their unflinching coverage of the war in Ukraine.
In 2024, Roosblad directed the PBS Frontline documentary, "Documenting Police Use of Force." This film, a key part of the AP’s three-year "Lethal Restraint" investigation, shed light on the deaths following police tactics known as ‘less-lethal force.’
Roosblad’s investigative work at the AP has reached millions, encompassing a range of critical topics. His documentaries have exposed police use of force against children, the rise of extremism in the U.S. military, and the implications of AI in surveillance, demonstrating his commitment to exploring complex and urgent issues. He has also contributed to the War Crimes Watch Ukraine, a collaboration between the AP and PBS Frontline, which used publicly available sources to document potential war crimes and produced compelling visual stories.
His work at the AP has garnered significant recognition, including an Online Journalism Award, an Overseas Press Club Award, and an IRE Award.
Beyond his investigative focus, Roosblad's storytelling extends to the arts and cultural narratives. He produced “Exposing Muybridge” (dir. Marc Shaffer), a feature-length documentary on motion picture pioneer Eadweard Muybridge, which premiered at DOC NYC 2021 and earned a 2022 Writers Guild Award for Best Documentary Screenplay. This film is the culmination of a documentary trilogy showcasing photographers, including an Emmy-nominated profile on Jonathan Calm, exploring former Green Book locations, and a film on David Maisel’s work at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.
In 2021, Serginho and his team at KQED Arts were awarded an Emmy for the production “Dear Beloved”, a deeply moving piece that centers on mothers grappling with the loss of their children to gun violence.
He is also the creator and producer of “My Song,” an online video series showcasing Africa’s politically and civically engaged musical artists.
As a seasoned journalist, Serginho spent much of the 2010s covering Africa, working as a freelance correspondent in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and reporting on the Great Lakes region. His work has been published by Voice of America, AJ+, the BBC, de Volkskrant, Radio France Internationale, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, Africa is a Country, and others.
Born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with roots in the Dutch Caribbean, Roosblad’s global perspective is shaped by his diverse background and extensive international experience. He has lived in Uganda, South Africa, and Denmark before moving to the United States in 2016. He holds a Master of Journalism degree from UC Berkeley, where he was a Marlon T. Riggs Fellow in documentary filmmaking, a Master of Philosophy degree in African Studies from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Hogeschool Utrecht (The Netherlands).