Diba

Diba, an Iranian supermodel who runs a fashion studio, throws a party with her new friend Faranak. At the party she takes revenge on the people who abused her.

These photographs were made before the film existed. Mohammadreza Mayghani’s feature was in development, and the images had to do what a script cannot: fix the mood, the palette and the framing so that everyone reading the project saw the same film. They are previews in the strict sense — the picture arrives before the thing it pictures.

That is an unusual brief for a stills photographer. It sits closer to production design than to documentation.

76th Festival de Cannes — Winner, CNC Pitch Prize