Nelufar Hedayat

Nelufar "Nel" Hedayat (born 1 January 1988) is a journalist and presenter who has worked across the BBC, Channel 4 and international broadcasters. Nelufar’s work has often focused on cultural upheaval experienced by women, children and families in conflict and hostile places. In the six years Nelufar worked for the BBC, she has presented, co-produced and written documentaries for television and radio, including the award winning Women, Weddings, War and Me, Shot for Going to School and Music, Money & Hip Hop Honeys. She has also presented and hosted the flagship live news programme Newsround for 3 years winning an award for her short film The Kids of Kabul.

Nelufar has produced and written radio documentaries and features for BBC Radio 4 on Afghan child suicide bombers and on faith and marriage for BBC 1xtra.

In 2015, Nel filmed her second programme for Unreported World, in which she met the health workers risking their lives to vaccinate children against polio in Pakistan, where the Taliban actively target and kill polio health workers. Her first Unreported World was filmed in Vietnam, where she investigated how dog thieves are making millions in the highly lucrative and illegal dog meat trade and are stealing thousands of pet dogs from family homes to meet demand. Nelufar was also a reporter for multi-award winning Channel 4 News covering domestic issues for the programme sine 2014.

Nelufar writes regularly for the investigative online magazine GlamMonitor.com focusing on the hidden and not so beautiful world of the fashion and beauty industry and has written articles for The Mirror and Guardian.

Career and background

Arriving in the United Kingdom at the age of six from her war torn homeland of Afghanistan. "Growing up in North London, identity was never really a big issue. I always felt I was free to be who I wanted to be, surrounded by a world where difference and eccentricity were the norm."[1] Nelufar's work often focuses on cultural upheaval experienced by women, children and families during conflict especially in her native Afghanistan. In December 2012 Nel appeared on the BBC show Celebrity Mastermind, and came third with Harry Potter as her specialist subject.

Women, Weddings, War and Me

The documentary follows Nel as she returns to her homeland for the first time since leaving some 15 years ago. She is presented as a typical British teenager, shopping, going out and spending time with her friends. Unlike most other 21-year-olds however Nel also has her history rooted in Afghanistan, where her parents were brought up and where most of her extended family currently live. She decided to return to Afghanistan to explore this part of her identity and discover how the lives of women in Afghanistan have changed with the fall of the Taliban.

The documentary was shown on BBC Three from 2 March 2010. It also aired in Australia on ABC1 on 17 May 2010. It has received largely positive reviews,^[1] while scoring the highest audience approval rating for a documentary on any channel ever reported.^[2] It has gone on to win the Broadcast Digital Award for Best Current Affairs' Programme^[3]

Music, Money and Hip Hop Honeys

In this documentary, Nel explores the controversial world of Hip Hop music video girls. She meets a host of young women in the UK hoping to "make it big" as Hip Hop models both in the UK and the US. However, alongside the glitz and glamour of the music video scene, Nel discovers a darker side to the industry where girls open themselves up to both financial and sexual exploitation.

Vietnam's Dog Snatchers

In her début for the Unreported World Series, Hedayat went to uncover the secret world of the dog meat trade in Vietnam. Millions of dogs are killed every ear to satiate the demand for the meat. Often pets are stolen^[4] from homes because the demand is so high and police officers can do little but fine the thieves. Hedayat finds trucks crammed full of hundreds of dogs hungry and vomiting after being force fed rice on the way to Hanoi's dog meat only restaurants and meets the village that murdered the thieves plaguing them. Hedayat worked with Director and Producer Daniel Bogado.

Television

References

Nelufars Time

Nelufar Joined ITV Granada In 2003 And Left In 2008 For Newsround In 2008 But She Will Now Be Joining ITV Central News In Birmingham followed by the itv national news.

External links

• BBC3 Women, Weddings, War and Me
• BBC3 Music, Money and Hip Hop Honeys
• BBC3 The Truth about Child Brides
• BBC3 Riots and Revolutions
• CBBC Newsround Nelufar's webpage
• Channel 4 Unreported World
• Unreported World Channel 4 Channel 4 Reporter Profile, February 2015
• Noel Gay Agency Noel Gay Nelufar Hedayat, February 2015