Director: Homayoun Ghanizadeh
A barbershop dream of stardom collides with a much darker scheme in this 2019 Iranian genre mashup of comedy, crime, and fantasy.
What is Maskhare Baz about?
Danesh spends his days cutting hair and his nights imagining a very different life, one where he's a working actor instead of a barber. That fantasy seems within reach when Manfered, an agent with connections, offers him an introduction to a well-known director, but the price of entry is strange and specific: Danesh has to gather a certain number of long human hairs to be turned into wigs. As he chases this odd assignment, the film weaves in a separate thread involving a string of unexplained disappearances happening around the same time, letting the two storylines circle each other without spelling out how, or whether, they connect. The tone shifts constantly between broad comedy, back-alley crime plotting, and touches of the fantastical, giving the film an unpredictable rhythm that resists easy genre labeling. At just over 100 minutes, it moves quickly through its odd errand-driven plot while keeping Danesh's showbiz ambitions as the throughline.
Cast & crew
Saber Abar plays Danesh, the barber chasing his acting break, alongside Ali Nasirian and Babak Hamidian in supporting roles that lean into the film's off-kilter tone. Director Homayoun Ghanizadeh, known for stage work as well as film, brings a theatrical sensibility to the material's genre-blending structure.
Context & significance
Released in 2019, the film sits within a wave of Iranian cinema willing to mix comedy with crime and fantastical elements rather than staying inside a single genre lane, and it holds a respectable 6.3 rating among audiences who've sought it out.
Where & how to watch
Maskhare Baz streams on K-Time with a free account login, presented in Persian with a viewing experience built around a Farsi-first audience.