TEHRAN – Iranian stuntman Arsha Aqdasi’s mother has donated a collection of his memorabilia to the Film Museum of Iran.

Aqdasi, who collaborated in a number of international projects including the James Bond 2012 adventure “Skyfall”, died last August from the injuries he suffered in a car crash while shooting a film project in Beirut, Lebanon.

His Organ Donor Card is among the items donated to the Film Museum of Iran, the museum announced on Saturday.

Based on Aqdasi’s last will and testament, his organs were donated to save lives.

The collection also includes a Simpson racing helmet Aqdasi wore while working on the film project in Beirut.

Another highlight of the collection is the suit worn by Aqdasi during the ceremony he was decorated with a Knight’s Cross, an order of the Serbian government.       

A number of his awards and diplomas of honor he received from international festivals and film projects have also been donated to the museum.

Working for Indian director Siddharth Anand’s new project “Bang Bang”, Aqdasi broke his neck on July 28, 2021 when a car he was in turned over. He was placed in an induced coma by doctors to prepare him for surgery. However, his injuries caused a disorder in the cerebral circulation system and ultimately led to his demise.

Born in Tehran in 1982, he learned aikido, becoming a coach in this modern Japanese martial art.

In 2005, he won a physical education scholarship to an Italian university, however, he changed his plans just days before leaving his hometown for Italy after he came across an announcement advertising a stunt training course offered by renowned Iranian stuntman Payman Abadi, who also was killed in 2009 while shooting a scene for the action telefilm “Invisible Eyes”.

Aqdasi stayed in Iran to become a skilled stuntman, who worked in over 50 screen and stage projects and set new records in stunts, one of which was doing three somersaults with a car in the air.

He also founded Stunt 13, a major studio for Iranian stuntmen.

In interviews with Persian media, Aqdasi said that he had a phobia about speed and height, but he could communicate with them, however, he called death “an enjoyable experience” that can happen once.

In January 2019, he and a group of his Iranian colleagues came together in a meeting in Tehran to ask the organizers of Iranian film festivals and events to recognize them as an active group in the film industry.

He also announced his plan to organize a festival for Iranian stuntmen. The first edition of the festival was scheduled to open on May 7, 2019, however, the plan was never implemented.

He lamented that so far stuntmen have been ignored at the Oscars, and said that only three festivals in Russia, America and Hong Kong are held for stuntmen.

Photo: A photo published by the Film Museum of Iran shows some of stuntman Arsha Aqdasi’s memorabilia donated by his mother to the museum. 

MMS/YAW