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Shakh(Risen)

  • Running Time
    20 minutes
  • Genre
    Short, Experimental, Drama, Suspence
  • Language
    Persian(Farsi)
  • Completed
    February 20, 2026

After the violent death of her husband, Parisa is placed in a psychiatric facility while awaiting investigation. As strange visions begin to haunt her, the line between trauma and reality slowly dissolves, and something powerful starts demanding to be seen.

Director’s Statement

This film explores the psychological and symbolic aftermath of domestic violence through the story of Parisa — a woman accused of killing her abusive husband under circumstances that defy logic. At its core, the film is not a crime story, but a meditation on repression, rage, and the thin line between madness and awakening.

The “cow” in the film is not simply an element of mystery; it is a metaphor. In many cultural and mythological traditions, horned creatures represent power, sacrifice, fertility, and suppressed instinct. For me, the cow embodies Parisa’s buried force — her silenced anger, her survival instinct, and the violence she was forced to endure. Whether the cow exists physically is less important than what it represents psychologically. It becomes the manifestation of a truth that society refuses to acknowledge.

Parisa is the family’s provider, yet she is trapped in a cycle of abuse. When her silence breaks, it is immediately reframed as instability. The psychiatric institution becomes a metaphor for how systems contain and neutralize women who disrupt patriarchal order. The more Parisa insists on her version of reality, the more she is pathologized. But what if what we call delusion is actually a refusal to continue living inside a lie?

As other women begin to “see” the cow, the film shifts from individual trauma to collective awakening. Shared hallucination becomes shared recognition. The presence that moves through the asylum suggests that suppressed rage does not disappear — it transforms.

 

Visually, I wanted to blur certainty. The audience is invited to question every image, to inhabit Parisa’s unstable perception. The film resists providing clear answers because trauma itself is not linear or rational. It is fragmented, visceral, and often unspeakable.

Ultimately, this story is about reclamation. About what happens when a woman no longer absorbs violence silently. About the moment when something ancient and powerful — long caged — demands to be seen.

 

Written and directed by
Narmin Farhang Farrahi

Produced by
Mazyar Hashemieh

 

Cinematographer
Majid Gorjian
Assistants Cinematographer
Mahmood Khorasani
Milad Jafari
Hamidreza Nazarzadeh
Sobhan Zohrehnezhad
Mostafa Zareie

Cast
Marzieh Vafamehr
Maryam Boobani
Saman Arastoo
Nahal Farjadi
Hoda Toorang
Nadia Bavand
Sara Motavaliyan
Shaghayegh Hafizi
Sana Rabeti
Davood Laylazy
Ali Lotfi
Maryam Afshar
Sogand Kasaie


Assistants Director
Fereshteh Khanzad
Amir Reza Rashidi
Mohamad Eshraghi
Armita Irani

Steadicam Operator
Sina Alipour
Camera Operator
Arash Kaboli
Sound Record
Masoud Shahverdi
Shayan Shahverdi
Assistant Sound Record
Peyman Rozeie
Set Design
Faraz Modiri
Decor Manager
Hossein Khodaverdi
Assistants Set Design
Omid Moradi
Babak Newshan

Costume Design
Alireza Hakimi
Costume
Mahdis Dehghani

Makeup Artist
Reyhaneh Adelnezhad
Makeup
Mitra Givechi
Soheila Zendehkezbin
Script Supervisor
Naghmeh Nourani
Project Administrator
Ali Bayat

Project Manager
Reza Rezaie Jafari
Photographer
Alireza Allahbakhshi
Procurement Manager
Hashem Sadat
Aref Sadat
Special Effects
Arash Aghabeygi

Cinemobil
Ata Barati
Parviz Aghajani
Electrician
Karim Jahanbakhsh
Edit
Narmin Farhang Farrahi

Sound Edit and Mix
Javad Emami
Music
Milad Movahedi
Visual Effects and AI
Amir Saharkhiz
Color
Kamran Saharkhiz

 

With special thanks to
Karnameh Art and Cultural Institute
Mohamad Charm Shir
Kambiz Farhang Farrahi
Touran Kheirkhah

 

Distribute by Zigguart Multimedia

About the director

Narmin Farhang Farrahi, Iranian screenwriter, filmmaker, cinematographer and also graphic designer was born on February 24, 1977 in the city of Urmia, IRAN.
She was talented in visual arts and started painting from a young age. After graduating in graphic design, she worked for 18 years as a freelance graphic designer and in the mean time she decided to fulfill her childhood dream of making movies as a filmmaker. She studied different courses about Screenwriting, Directing, Lighting, Cinematography, Acting, Editing and etc. She Made seven Short Films as a director and filmmaker and shoot six Short Films as a Cinematographer in eleven years from 2015 to 2026.

Filmography:
Janan – Drama Short Film – 7 min- 2016
P.O.V. – Drama Short Film – 4 min 2018
Noise – Drama Short Film – 3 min – 2023 
Embedded – Drama Short Film – 20 min – 2023
Gray – Drama Short Film – 10 min – 2024
Risen – Drama Short Film – 20 min – 2026
Delivery – Drama Short Film – 15 min – 2026