Films2025
Haemo-philia
- Director
- Kiarash Salehi
- Year
- 2025
- Role
- Photographer | Art Director | Visual Strategist
- Services
- Renaming, art direction, launch site and press kit, architectural stills
A man with a prosthetic hand is given a few days to clear out a butcher shop. The arrival of a girl, and her demands, dismantles the routine he has built to survive the work.
The film arrived titled Expired, with no hook to hold an audience before a screening. Short films are rarely seen; their stills and marketing become their primary existence. So the work here started with the name: Haemo-philia, split across haemo and philia — blood and desire — a dual narrative of attraction and danger that then governed everything visual.
From there the film was treated as a product launch rather than a shoot. A dedicated website and press kit carry an independent narrative layer, and the photography abandons conventional behind-the-scenes coverage for architectural stills: light, shadow and mise-en-scène doing the work of mood. The promotional material becomes a standalone piece, and the film keeps living past the festival calendar.
Role: Photographer, Art Director, Visual Strategist
Case study
Treat a short film as a product launch, not a shoot.
The challenge
Short films often suffer from a lack of visibility. They are rarely seen, so their static images and marketing assets become their primary existence. The film, originally titled “Expired,” lacked a hook to engage an audience before the screening.
The strategy
I redefined the project’s identity, starting with a strategic renaming to Haemo-philia — separating Haemo and Philia. This semantic shift, combining blood and desire, created a dual narrative of attraction and danger that guided the entire visual campaign.
Execution & impact
Treating the film as a product launch, I designed a dedicated website and a press kit that functioned as an independent narrative layer. I moved away from standard behind-the-scenes photography and instead captured architectural stills — images focused on light, shadow and mise-en-scène to convey the film’s psychological mood.
This turned the promotional material into a standalone art project, extending the film’s lifecycle beyond festivals.