Taxidermy might as well be a four-letter word. To the uninitiated it’s easy to discount it as being gross and morbid. That’s exactly how filmmaker Erin Derham, a staunch vegetarian and animal lover, felt before she embarked on her latest documentary Stuffed. She soon realized she had taxidermy all wrong. With her illuminating, spirited, and beautifully rendered portrait, she tears apart the seams and gives this misunderstood profession’s image a well-deserved makeover.

Stuffed spends its 84-minute running time visiting with various practitioners of taxidermy. These people are part artists, part biologists, and part environmentalists. The film introduces Allis Markham, an award-winning Los Angeles-based taxidermist with a high-end clientele. She comes to the medium through her love of nature and art.

Across the pond, Jaap Sinke and Ferry van Tongeren are a duo whose entry point is through an interest in history and appreciation for the old Dutch masters of taxidermy. Zimbabwe-born Travis De Villiers is a professional anatomical sculptor who grew up in the wilderness. He’s focusses on the scientific details.

Then there’s Daniel Meng, born in Switzerland and now living in North Dakota, he’s an ardent hunter and conservationist who sees taxidermy as a celebration of life. However, he is worried about what the ladies might think and sometimes refers to himself as a “3D wildlife artist.”

The film follows these mad craftspeople as they labor over various projects, visit natural history museums and conservancies, and attend taxidermy competitions. The competitions are a fascinating facet of the field. The convention-like events bring together a wide assortment of personalities all of whom share a love of animals and interest in protecting them. Those who attend want to be part of a taxidermy brotherhood and use these outings to learn from one another.

The film touches on the “outliers” of taxidermy too. One artist fuses different animal body parts together to create new curiosities.

Derham’s documentary also carries an environmental message. Taxidermists are concerned with the state of the natural world. Some in the field see themselves as preservationists whose job is to create a detailed record of a species before it goes extinct.

In these “echo-chamber” times, people are quick to perpetuate negative stereotypes. Taxidermists aren’t the death-obsessed, killing-animals-for-sport monsters you might think. Which is why it is important to have open-minded filmmakers like Derham and thoughtful documentaries like Stuffed.

Stuffed is playing at Film Forum through October 29 and will expand to other theaters. For more information, visit the film’s website.