SYNOPSIS
A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.
Awards
Best Actress | Cannes IFF, France, 2022
CAST & CREW
Ali Abbasi
Director
Producer(s)
Sol Bondy, Jacob Jarek
Script
Ali Abbasi, Afshin Kamran Bahrami
Director of Photography
Nadim Carlsen
Production designer
Anas Balawi, Lina Nordqvist
Music by
Martin Dirkov
Sound
Gregor Bonse
Edit
Olivia Neergaard-Holm, Hayedeh Safiyari
Cast
Zar Amir-Ebrahimi, Mehdi Bajestani, Arash Ashtiani
Production company(ies)
Profile Pictures, One Two Films
Ali Abbasi
born 1981) He attended Tehran Polytechnic until 2002, when he emigrated to Sweden to study architecture at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. After earning his Bachelor of Arts in 2007, he enrolled at the National Film School of Denmark, earning his degree in 2011 with the short film M for Markus. In 2018, Border, Abbasi's second film, premiered. It won the Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes FF, was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, but didn't get a nomination. His third feature film, Holy Spider, was a Persian-language co-production between Sweden, Denmark, France, and Germany. Based on the true story of Saeed Hanaei, a serial killer who targeted sex workers and killed sixteen women from 2000 to 2001 in Mashhad, Iran. The film depicts a fictional female journalist investigating the serial killer.
Filmography
Officer Relaxing After Duty (short, 2008), In Darkness Is the Light (short, 2010), M for Markus (short, 2011), Shelley (2016), Border (2018), Holy Spider (2022).
