MORTICIAN, the latest feature film by Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Abdolreza Kahani, has been officially selected for the 25th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival (TIFF), one of Eastern Europe’s leading film festivals, taking place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The film will screen as part of “The Pitch Black Anthology,” a special program dedicated to black comedy, transgressive humour, and films that transform discomfort into art.
In its official announcement, the festival described the section as “a brief history of going too far,” bringing together films and filmmakers known for pushing the boundaries of satire, absurdity, psychological tension, and dark humour. TIFF stated that the selected works are films that “turned discomfort into art and the unspeakable into comedy,” adding that some of them “caused scandals at Cannes” while others “still shock.”
Within this curated program, MORTICIAN is presented alongside works and filmmakers associated with some of the most influential traditions of black comedy and surrealist cinema, including Luis Buñuel, the Coen Brothers, Pedro Almodóvar, Quentin Dupieux, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Anders Thomas Jensen, Jan Komasa, and Todd Rohal. The lineup also includes landmark titles such as The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and Delicatessen.
The festival’s official description of MORTICIAN reads:
“Shot entirely on an iPhone, Mortician (dir. Abdolreza Kahani, 2025) introduces us to an Iranian man living in Canada who prepares bodies for burial according to Islamic rites. When the company he works for shuts down and he faces the prospect of returning home, he comes into contact with a famous Iranian singer who plans to livestream her own suicide on social media as a protest against the Tehran regime. Their encounter, however, changes both their plans.”
TIFF’s presentation positions the film within a cinematic lineage of politically charged black comedy and psychologically unsettling contemporary cinema. The festival emphasized that the films in the program are “funnier than they have any right to be,” framing MORTICIAN as part of a body of work that explores moral discomfort, exile, absurdity, and social tension through dark humour and formal risk-taking.
Founded in 2002, the Transilvania International Film Festival is the first and largest feature film festival in Romania and has become one of the most internationally visible film events in Eastern Europe.
Mortician, the latest feature film by Iranian filmmaker Abdolreza Kahani, has won Best Feature Film at the 12th Persian Film Festival in Australia, marking the film’s fifth international award.
The film had its world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it received the Sean Connery Prize for Excellence in Filmmaking. It also earned the festival’s monthly Audience Award for Courage. Continuing its festival run, Mortician went on to win both Best Film and the Audience Award at Seeyousound International Music Film Festival in Italy.
To date, Mortician has been screened at around 20 international festivals, with further screenings scheduled in the coming months.
A character-driven drama, the film follows an Iranian immigrant in Canada navigating moral conflict, exile, and proximity to death. Shot entirely on a mobile device with minimal resources, Mortician is a clear example of Kahani’s “Solo Cinema” (or “One-Man Cinema”) approach, a method in which the filmmaker takes on nearly all aspects of production independently.
With its continued international presence, Mortician is emerging as a distinctive work within the contemporary independent festival circuit.
The feature film Mortician, written and directed by Iranian filmmaker Abdolreza Kahani, has won two major awards at the SEEYOUSOUND International Music Film Festival 2026 in Turin, Italy.
The film received the Best Feature Film (LP Feature) award from the festival jury as well as the Audience Award, making it one of the most recognized titles of the festival’s twelfth edition. The announcement was made at the closing of the festival, which took place from March 3 to March 8, 2026, at Cinema Massimo in Turin.
SEEYOUSOUND
According to reports from Italian film publication Cinecittà News, Kahani’s film stood out in the feature competition and was praised by both the jury and the public attending the festival.
Mortician is a Canadian-produced drama that follows Mojtaba, an Iranian expatriate working in Canada who prepares the bodies of deceased Muslims for burial. His solitary life changes when he encounters a dissident Iranian singer living in exile, leading to an unexpected relationship shaped by displacement, politics, and survival.
The film stars Nima Sadr and Golazin Ardestani, and was written, directed, shot and edited by Kahani as part of his independent filmmaking practice.
Mortician premiered internationally in 2025 and has since appeared at several international festivals. The film previously won the Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence at the Edinburg International Film Festival.
The SEEYOUSOUND International Music Film Festival is dedicated to films exploring the relationship between music and cinema, and its program includes fiction and documentary features, shorts, and audiovisual works from around the world.
According to Deadline, MORTICIAN continues its international festival journey with its 13th global screening at the Manchester Film Festival, where it has been officially selected for its Manchester Premiere.
Following screenings at multiple international festivals, the film’s presence at Manchester marks another step in its global run. Additional festival selections are forthcoming and will be announced in due course.
MORTICIAN, written and directed by Abdolreza Kahani, is a stark political black comedy that confronts the moral erosion and institutional violence embedded within the Islamic Republic. Through a restrained and intimate cinematic language, the film examines complicity, exile, and the enduring reach of state power beyond borders.
Like Kahani’s recent works, the film is created in the spirit of his distinctive “One-Man Cinema” approach — a radically independent method in which the filmmaker assumes near-total creative control across the production process, resulting in a raw, immediate, and singular cinematic voice.
Abdolreza Kahani’s feature film MORTICIAN has been officially selected for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2026, where it will have its U.S. Premiere.
Now in its 41st edition, SBIFF is regarded as one of the most significant international film festivals in the United States, recognized for its strong focus on independent and world cinema. The festival is also known as a major meeting point between international filmmakers and the American film industry, taking place annually in Santa Barbara, California.
The 2026 edition of SBIFF brings together an extensive lineup of international premieres alongside a high-profile roster of special guests and honorees, including acclaimed figures such as Sean Penn and Leonardo DiCaprio, among many others from across the global film community.
MORTICIAN, directed by Kahani, continues its international festival journey following previous screenings, and its presentation at SBIFF marks an important step in the film’s North American exposure.
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival runs from February 4 to February 14, 2026.
