Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIranian-Danish director Ali Abbasi insists that his Cannes competition film “Holy Spider” is not intended to be a controversial truth telling.
Rather, he is telling the truth through a fictional interpretation of real events. The film chronicles a killing spree in the streets of the religious city of Mashhad, where 16 prostitutes were found dead between 2000 and 2001.“I am not a big fan of serial killers or serial killer movies,” Abbasi said May 23 at the Cannes Film Festival. “I was living in Iran at the time.
I was following the news like everyone else. [These events] became interesting for me when a certain segment of Iranian society started to describe [the killer] as a selfless hero [doing things] for society.
That’s when it became more than a sick guy killing women.” Abbasi stressed his film is “not the real story,” adding, “This is an interpretation.
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