Weekend with Nelufar Hedayat: ‘Breakfast is a huge deal’
The journalist and film-maker on cups of tea in bed, martial arts, podcasting and top documentaries at the London Breeze Film Festival
Nelufar Hedayat, 38, is a British-Afghan journalist, director and documentary film-maker. Her work has appeared on the BBC, Channel 4 and Netflix, where she has reported on conflict, human rights and the climate crisis.
In 2023, she won an Emmy award for In Real Life: Plastic Time Bomb, exploring the impact of microplastics on people and the environment.
Hedayat is head of documentaries at London Breeze Film Festival, now in its 11th year, which will run on 21-25 October. She also co-hosts the Ritually podcast, exploring everyday rituals and spirituality.
Hedayat lives in London with her husband.
How does your Saturday morning start?
I’m a little bit of a princess, so I usually have a cup of tea in bed that my husband brings up to me. And we’ll just get back into bed and natter for a while about what we’re doing that day.
And once you’re up?
Exercise. I just graded for my brown belt in Xen-Do martial arts. I’m going for my black belt in about 18 months.
What’s for breakfast?
Breakfast is a huge deal. I’m vegan so I’m always trying to figure out how to make the best scrambled tofu and where the best vegan sausages are.
Where’s the furthest you’ve walked for a good vegan sausage?
Hackney Wick, which is about three hours from here. You’ll be happy to know I didn’t walk it back.
What does Saturday night look like?
It can be all over the place. Sometimes we go for an early dinner at 5.30pm and get home at 2am after having been out all night.
Favourite places to eat?
There’s Holy Carrot in Notting Hill, Mildreds and KIN Cafe in the heart of London. My favourite is Gauthier Soho. It’s run by an incredible chef. He’s like the Willy Wonka of food.
I also love street food. With my job I’ve had to learn to eat whenever I can as quickly as I can. So a lot of the time, it’s what can you fit in your mouth in 15 minutes to stop the hunger. Camden Lock has just got everything you could possibly want.
And when you cook at home?
I love tofu. It is the chicken of the vegan world. Flavour comes from the herbs, spices and oils. Slap it on a bit of tofu, Bob’s your uncle.
What do Sundays look like for you?
I call them sacred Sundays, but it’s not a religious thing. My podcast Ritually, co-created with Sarah Kendall, is about taking these little rituals into our everyday life that can help us feel better.
What are your little rituals?
Floralegia. It’s all about reading any text as though it’s holy. Now when I read poetry or even if it’s a news article that’s written well, I read it differently. It’s helped me understand and value words and my interaction with the world in a totally different way.
Tell us more about the podcast.
It came about during the pandemic. Sarah is Jewish and I’m Muslim. With nowhere to come together or congregate, we just felt lonely and isolated. As important as inner faith is, sharing faith is also really important.
We created ritually to answer the question: how can spirituality exist in the modern age? And are we allowed, as modern women, to borrow from different spiritual and religious practices?
What films are you looking forward to at the London Breeze Festival?
Our opening film is Love Chaos Kin and it’s a story about two white girls who are adopted by an Indian American couple. The documentary film-maker has followed them as they grew up. It’s a tender, raw look at how we decide who we are, and what if we change our minds?
There’s also Miss Jobson, about a woman who knew and represented Bob Marley and is now living in old age, taking stock of what her life is.
What else are you working on?
I’m super excited about a new documentary called Kabul Melody that I produced with the award-winning Afghan director Sahra Mani. We hope it will come out in the 2027 festival period. It is by far one of the most important films that I’ve ever worked on. It has documented this moment in time that existed when music and sound and folk culture were all part of the story of Afghan society.
Now, the music has stopped and women have been essentially erased from public life. Kabul Melody is a celebration of what can be achieved and the music that can come from people, just by allowing them to express themselves.
London Breeze Film Festival is on until 25 October.
