Nelly Ben Hayoun hosted a Q&A with Tour de Moon’s bursary filmmakers during their London Short Film Festival screening held at the British Film Institute. The screening was a cosmic showcase of original short films by new filmmakers. The evening consisted in a journey through decolonial ideas, radical aesthetics and pluralistic perspectives on youth counterculture, science, nightlife and contemporary thinking.
After the Q&A, PXSSY PALACE curated an afterparty with DJs mixing throughout the evening in the Benugo Bar at BFI Southbank until 2 am.
TOUR DE MOON
Tour de Moon is a cosmic adventure, a large-scale public festival of immersive experiences and live events developed in collaboration with our “universal satellite”: the Moon, seen as a character, a landscape and a prompt for radical imagination. The festival, composed of eight programming strands, engages visitors through live and virtual experiences, supporting youth, nightlife creators, scientists and digital creators through cooperation. Tour de Moon seeks new beginnings, to empower others to create, to initiate, to innovate with new thinking and pluralistic practices so that history does not repeat itself on and beyond Earth. Tour de Moon is composed of more than 90 individuals as a part of its team, Youth Reporter Board and Advisory Board and further collaborative organisations, all working together to build a festival committed to plurality, solidarity and equity.
UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK
UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK was a celebration of creativity taking place across the UK in 2022, designed to reach millions and bring people together. It featured free large-scale events, installations and globally accessible digital experiences in the UK’s most ambitious showcase of creative collaboration. Produced by some of the brightest minds in science, technology, engineering, arts and maths, UNBOXED features ten major multi-site and digital creative projects that share new ideas and possibilities for the future. Events and activities took place from 1 March to 20 November 2022 – from the Outer Hebrides to Luton and from Omagh to Swansea, and across traditional and online media. UNBOXED: Creativity in the UK was funded and supported by the four governments of the UK and was commissioned and delivered in partnership with Belfast City Council, Creative Wales and EventScotland.
London Short film festival
‘(LSFF) is a festival not afraid to take creative risks and nurture new talent, something rarely seen in this age of austerity and conformity.” — i-D
Founded in 2003, London Short Festival (LSFF) is a BAFTA-qualifying, internationally regarded independent short film festival.
Each January, LSFF hosts ten days of short form, conversation and multidisciplinary curation. We present between 250-500 British and international films each edition, collaboratively programmed down from 5000+ open submissions, alongside Special Events and an industry offering of workshops, panels and discussion for filmmakers and workers.
LSFF exists to spotlight a multiplicity of filmmakers, visual artists and creatives, across intersections and with a commitment to peripheral voices. We pride ourselves on an 18 year ethos of giving screen-space and visibility to unconventional and thoroughly independent filmmaking, and our programming seeks to situate the contemporary in dialogue with its history and the world at large. We consider LSFF both a platform where filmmakers can cut their teeth and define their careers, and a celebrator of the archival treasures and talent that got us here.
PXSSY PALACE
PXSSY PALACE is an arts platform rooted in intentional nightlife, celebrating black, indigenous and people of colour who are women, queer, intersex, trans or non-binary. We provide space to dance, connect and engage, whilst encouraging consent, sexual freedom, pleasure, expression and exploration of our authentic selves.
BFI Southbank
We are a cultural charity, a National Lottery distributor, and the UK’s lead organisation for film and the moving image. Our mission is:
- To support creativity and actively seek out the next generation of UK storytellers
- To grow and care for the BFI National Archive, the world’s largest film and television archive
- To offer the widest range of UK and international moving image culture through our programmes and festivals – delivered online and in venue
- To use our knowledge to educate and deepen public appreciation and understanding of film and the moving image
- To work with Government and industry to ensure the continued growth of the UK’s screen industries
Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter. The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Tim Richards
Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios – Founders of Tour de Moon, Moon Press, University of the Underground and International Space Orchestra
Founded in 2009, Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios is an award-winning interdisciplinary design studio which devises subversive events, experiences, and feature-length films. Led by the designer, educator, filmmaker, radio host and amateur boxer Dr Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian, the studio works on highly ambitious projects to empower countercultures and communities by building platforms for them to challenge power structures, while also allowing for change and critical thinking through multi-faceted immersive experiences. Nelly and her team of architects, graphic designers, textile designers, philosophers and more have consulted and worked with leading scientists, creatives, writers, brands, politicians, policymakers, musicians, and engineers worldwide and have a track record of successfully challenging public engagement mechanics through theatrical, experiential, and design practices. The Studios support the training of young people, through the University of the Underground, a tuition-free charity with board members such as Pussy Riot, Noam Chomsky, Arjun Appadurai and Massive Attack amongst others in 2017 to support free, pluralistic and transnational education. Clients and collaborators include NASA, the United Nations, LEGO, Mattel and many more.
BENUGO
Benugo was founded in 1998 in Clerkenwell, London, by brothers Ben and Hugo. They had a vision of not just creating superb, natural food but of giving London something that was a real experience. This vision is still true today. The Benugo brand stretches from award-winning high street stores to cafes and restaurants within some of the world’s best-loved public spaces and high-volume visitor attractions such as BFI Southbank, Natural History Museum, V&A, The Royal Parks, The British Museum, Edinburgh and Stirling Castles and John Lewis stores throughout the UK. A strong retail discipline coupled with an independent and entrepreneurial spirit underpins the whole brand.
As the hospitality industry works towards a more sustainable future, Benugo strives to make better choices and is constantly updating policies in line with this.
Benugo has recently launched science-based carbon labelling to help visitors make informed food choices based on environmental impact. The data and carbon labelling system has been developed and administered by Foodprint from Nutritics, a pioneering, fully automated and award-winning environmental impact scoring system for the hospitality and food service sector. Its labels highlight scoring levels of carbon impact from A-E, with A being the most climate-friendly choice. Benugo serves carbon neutral coffee in collaboration with ClimatePartner across all outlets. Benugo’s espresso blend is brewed with beans that are 100% Rainforest Alliance certified.
Benugo has introduced wooden cutlery and paper straws, salad bowls are made from 70% recycled plastic or press cardboard, napkins are made from 100% recycled paper, all fruit and yoghurt pots are created using recycled plastic and are recyclable, hot drinks are served without lids unless customers ask for them (this reduces plastic lid usage by 60%), and all plastic bottles are recyclable. Benugo also has its own endlessly refillable, infinitely reusable aluminium water bottle; refilling it just 10 times avoids 70g of plastic waste and 790g of CO2 emissions.