FANAAn evolving story universe by Rita Rahimi.
A ruined Tehran. A dying regime. The living and the dead sharing the same broken city.
At the heart of FANA are ordinary people navigating extraordinary absurdity, violence, love, and survival.
An expanding universe of interconnected stories, characters, films, comics, music, and visual art.
What remains when everything that defines us disappears?
The name fanā comes from a concept of self-dissolution deeply rooted in Persian mystical and artistic traditions.
For Rita, it is a lifelong artistic exploration of identity, loss, transformation, and the possibility of becoming someone new.
Across different stories and mediums, FANA returns to the same question: Who are we when the world and the self we once knew falls apart?
The world is ending. Life goes on.
Bombs fall. The dead walk among the living. An authoritarian regime struggles to control a city it can barely keep alive.
And yet people still fall in love, make music, break rules, tell jokes, and dream of something better.
FANA is a world where the absurd and the tragic are inseparable.
THE CHARACTERS
A rebel without an off switch.
An artist, a dreamer, and a compulsive rule-breaker. Ahu drives through forbidden streets, makes a living outside the law, and refuses to surrender her freedom even when the world around her collapses.
She is the heart of FANA.
MEET AHU
The perfect citizen the system forgot.
Conservative, cautious, and almost painfully obedient, Adil has spent years admiring Ahu from a distance.
A bureaucratic mistake has made him invisible to the surveillance system. When their paths finally cross, two radically different ways of surviving the same nightmare collide.
Three old villagers. Traditional instruments. Heavy metal.
A fictional Iranian rock band whose absurd humor and rebellious music have found their way into FANA.
Ahu is a fan. Their songs, characters, and adventures are becoming part of the universe.
BEYOND THE SCREEN
2024 · Shamis Gallery, Tehran
FANA took physical form in a two-floor interdisciplinary exhibition combining original drawings, comics, moving images, projection mapping, and installation.
A world that began on paper expanded into a space audiences could walk through.
EXPLORE THE EXHIBITION
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
2019 · Original Graphic Novel · 150 Pages
Before FANA became a cinematic universe, it lived on paper.
An intimate, hand-drawn journey through identity, memory, dreams, and transformation. Across three interconnected episodes, Rita and Ahu navigate a surreal world of emotional contradictions, dark humor, and the difficult process of self-acceptance.
A Maple in Flames established an early visual and narrative foundation for the universe that continues to evolve today.
READ THE BOOK
ABOUT
Rita RahimiFILM DIRECTOR · VISUAL ARTIST · CREATOR OF FANA
Rita Rahimi is a nonbinary Iranian film director and visual artist based in Armenia. She completed FANA: Back in a Sec independently amid severe internet disruptions in Iran.
Through it all, one thing has remained constant: an unstoppable urge to draw, invent characters, tell stories, and bring impossible worlds to life.
Her worlds can be violent, heartbreaking, ridiculous, and strangely beautiful.
The goal has never been the image alone. It's the person inside the frame.
Long before generative AI, Rita was creating worlds by hand.
Her practice spans drawing, illustration, comics, animation, gallery exhibitions, and live-action filmmaking.
Her visual art isn't a chapter she left behind.
It's the foundation of everything she makes.
AI lets her build, at cinematic scale, the worlds she has always drawn.
A fearless rebel who runs from intimacy. A perfect citizen the system has forgotten. Three elderly villagers playing heavy metal. These are some of the characters inhabiting FANA, Rita's expanding universe of stories born from personal experience, political absurdity, dark humor, and an insatiable curiosity about being human.
Her work spans character design, visual development, animation, editing, sound design, and final post-production.
She teaches character development, animation, editing, and integrated AI filmmaking workflows at Inverse Online School
She is developing original FANA films and welcomes directing collaborations on narrative films, music videos, and proof-of-concept productions.
STUDIO
I collaborate with filmmakers, producers, musicians, and creative teams to develop and direct distinctive cinematic work.
I combine drawing, animation, live-action craft, and generative AI to develop the right visual language for each project—from original narratives and animated worlds to music videos, brand films, and proofs of concept.
One artistic vision. From concept to final frame.
Discuss Your Project
01 — Narrative Films & Proofs of Concept
From independent short films to cinematic pitch teasers and proofs of concept, I develop and direct narrative projects with a focus on character, atmosphere, and visual storytelling.
Services: Narrative Development · Film Direction · Short Films · Pitch Teasers · Proofs of Concept · AI Animation
02 — Music Videos
Concept-driven music videos that translate sound, emotion, and imagination into distinctive visual experiences. From surreal worlds to character-driven narratives, each production is developed around the music's unique identity.
Services: Creative Direction · Narrative Music Videos · Visual Concepts · Cinematic Production · Editing & Post-Production
03 — Characters & Worlds
Character and world development for films, animation, and original intellectual properties. From initial concepts to visually consistent characters and fully realized cinematic environments.
Services: Character Development · Worldbuilding · Visual Development · Look Development · Concept Art · Animation Tests
Meet AHU
04 — Brand Films & Commercials
Distinctive films for brands and creative agencies looking beyond conventional advertising. Concept-driven productions combining cinematic storytelling, strong visual identity, and innovative production methods.
Services: Brand Films · Narrative Commercials · Creative Direction · Cinematic Campaigns · Product Storytelling
PRODUCTION PROCESS
We explore the concept, narrative, visual direction, and production requirements.
Characters, environments, style, and cinematic language take shape through visual research and development.
Scenes are directed and produced using the most suitable combination of generative AI, animation, and traditional filmmaking techniques.
Editing, sound, color, and final post-production bring the work together into a cohesive cinematic experience.
PRICING
Each production is developed around its creative goals, scope, timeline, and budget. Whether you're developing an independent film or commissioning a commercial project, let's explore what we can create together.
Discuss Your ProjectI direct narrative films, music videos, cinematic proof-of-concept productions, brand films, and animated projects. I'm particularly interested in collaborations involving original storytelling, distinctive characters, and ambitious visual ideas.
I approach AI as a filmmaking medium, not a substitute for direction. Storytelling, character, composition, performance, pacing, and atmosphere guide the process. Depending on the project, I combine AI-generated imagery and animation with traditional production, editing, sound design, and post-production techniques.
Absolutely. I can develop a project from an initial idea or join an existing production as a director and creative collaborator. I work independently on smaller productions and collaborate with writers, producers, artists, and other specialists when the project requires it.
Every project is different. Scope, complexity, duration, and production requirements determine the budget and schedule. I'm open to projects of different scales, from focused creative commissions to more ambitious narrative productions. You'll receive a clear proposal before work begins.
We begin with a conversation about your project, creative goals, references, timeline, and budget. I then develop a proposed approach, scope, and production plan. Once approved, we move through visual development, production, editing, and final delivery, with feedback at agreed milestones.
Ownership, licensing, usage rights, and deliverables are defined in our agreement before production begins. Third-party materials and AI-generated assets may have additional licensing considerations, which we address according to the project's requirements.
