A Dress Rehearsal for an Execution

Official selection of Hot Docs Hot Springs RIDM EIFF HRHDIFF Since the Pulitzer Prize for journalism was established nearly a hundred years ago, only one winning photograph has ever had an anonymous creator.

In 2006, after nearly three decades of fearing for his life, Jahangir Razmi at last revealed his identity as the photographer of the 1979 prize-winning picture of an execution in post-revolution Iran.

The story of the photo alone would make a fascinating documentary, but Montreal-based director and visual artist Bahman Tavoosi’s film is much more than an historical retelling of facts.

Tavoosi records his process of restaging the photograph and meticulously seeks out a suitable location and cast.

The source material becomes a muse, and a dramatic history is exposed and developed like a negative.

Tavoosi dissects the role of documentary photography as art form and social commentary while questioning and highlighting creative licence and political history in this ambitious, cinematic and riveting piece of filmmaking.