Diana Olifirova | Cinematographer

Diana Olifirova | Cinematographer

Cinematographer Diana Olifirova moved to London from the Ukraine to do a Cinematography Masters at the NFTS, as well as further her knowledge of the craft and ultimately seek greater professional opportunities than were available to her in her home country. Diana went on a run of shooting short films (around 40, she estimates), which included ALL of Me (2017), which earned her a British Society of Cinematographer’s Emerging Cinematographer award. She also shot Lady Parts (2018), the short that led to her working on the BAFTA-winning Channel 4 comedy We Are Lady Parts (2021). Diana followed this up with Netflix series Heartstopper (2022), recently nominated for Children and Family EMMY.

In her own words:

“I was always interested in photography, but there were no courses at the time; it was not considered a profession. I did all the ones I could and then, just to progress, I decided to study cinematography. So, I kind of accidentally started studying it but really loved it...

“We Are Lady Parts was really fun. The production was amazing and the director, the production designer, the costume designer and I became really good friends and co-creators. We were very excited to win a BAFTA. Heartstopper was quite challenging and ambitious. We put a lot into it and were really happy with the results. It’s nice that people are touched by it, it means a lot to me personally...

“Last year, my friend PC Williams [Lady Parts’ costume designer] was selected [for BAFTA Breakthrough]... I think it’s good timing for me right now. It’s exciting – I have just wrapped my block on Bridgerton S3 and having four TV shows behind me I’m curious to explore different sides of the industry. I’ve only done TV and commercials, but I’ve never done a proper feature film. I would love to be introduced to that world. And I’d be interested to talk about art films that I do myself - my personal projects, so talking to curators and galleries. It’s nice to be surrounded by people who are excited about what they do and are passionate creators. This is the best place for me.”

Diana’s Breakthrough credit is television series Heartstopper

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