تاکسیدرمی | Taxidermy (2025)

Who knows whether an animal would rather die or be stuffed? That question sits at the heart of Taxidermy, a historical comedy with a fantasy streak and the first feature film by Iranian director Mohammad Paydar. Set in the turbulent days of the 1979 revolution, it follows three hunters on a mission to bag one of the last Persian fallow deer, an endangered animal that becomes tied to their own fate in unexpected ways.

A Hunt at the End of an Era

The story centres on a half-brother of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi and his passion for hunting deer. As the revolution gathers pace and the old order collapses, he heads for the forests of northern Iran in search of the rare yellow deer, with a small group of hunters in tow. The film turns the chase into a run of absurd, comic situations, using the animal and the art of taxidermy as a playful way to look at power, pride and a world that is about to disappear. The opening line of the official synopsis sets the tone: a character who never imagined his destiny would be bound to that of a deer.

Majid Salehi, Hassan Majooni and Hadi Kazemi

Majid Salehi leads the cast under heavy, unrecognisable make-up as the royal hunter, a role Persian Wikipedia identifies as Abdolreza Pahlavi. Hassan Majooni and Hadi Kazemi play the men drawn into the hunt. The ensemble also includes Anahita Dargahi, Farzin Mohades, Bijan Banafshekhah, Alireza Masoudi, Javad Khajavi, Hedieh Hosseininezhad and Atoosa Kalantari.

Several of these actors appear elsewhere on Pardeh. Hadi Kazemi stars in Gholhak and Murphy's Law, Hassan Majooni in Chubby Boy and Me and Golden Night, and Anahita Dargahi in Torghozabad.

A First Feature from Soureh Film Club

Mohammad Paydar came to features after years of documentaries and short films. His short Black Soda (Nooshabeh Meshki) won top prizes at the Tehran International Short Film Festival in 2022. Producer Mohammad Javad Movahed has said the idea for Taxidermy took shape in 1401 (2022), while the team was researching episodes from Iran's modern history and found an incident from 1978 to 1979 that could carry a comic story.

From Fajr to Cinemas and Online

Taxidermy premiered at the 43rd Fajr Film Festival, where it was nominated in four craft categories: visual effects, production design, sound and cinematography. It opened in Iranian cinemas on 22 April 2026, distributed by Bahman Sabz, and reached Filimo's online cinema on 4 November 2026.

Taxidermy FAQ

Taxidermy is on Pardeh in its original Persian version, and you can also download it with a free Pardeh account.