Synopsis

Alberto Michelon Synopsis: Grieving pet owners embark on an unusual pilgrimage to Padua, in search of a second life for their beloved animal, at the hands of an unlikely messiah. Alberto is Padua’s only taxidermist, and perhaps the only taxidermist in Italy to specialize in pet taxidermy. His typical client grieves for a cat, a dog, a bird, from which they will not be separated, even by death. Acting as a de facto animal undertaker, skilled technician and part-time therapist, Alberto tangibly gives his clients the essence of what they lost. But now his craft is not enough. He is at a crossroads. He is channelling his love of the macabre into sculptures made of animal remains. More than the life of a singular artist, “Taxiderman” explores the poignant, poetic and sometimes hilarious truths that come to light when death is both object and subject.