'Holy Spider' director Ali Abbasi discusses impact of his Iranian film amid civil unrest

Swedish-Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi never could have imagined the backdrop his film, based on “Spider Killer” Saeed Hanaei who targeted and killed 16 prostitutes between 2000 and 2001, would be released into.

In "Holy Spider," female journalist Arezoo Rahimi (Zar Amir-Ebrahimi) travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate the serial killings of sex workers by the "Spider Killer" (Mehdi Bajestani), who believes he is on a mission from God to cleanse the streets of sinners. As she digs deeper into the case, she discovers a chance for justice — though law enforcement doesn't seem as enthusiastic or willing to help, and she finds that the killer has even garnered support for his actions.

Just as the film was beginning to release around the world following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, civil unrest and protests against the Iranian government associated with the death of Mahsa Amini began in September. Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, was arrested by morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab improperly. There were reports that officers beat her and caused a fatal head injury, but police denied the allegations and said she suffered a heart attack. Since then, thousands have protested in the streets and hundreds have been killed.

Abbasi said his whole life view has changed since the protests began, especially seeing so many people coming together to fight for women's rights.

"We're all in this state of mutual shock and amazement because it seems like we're unearthing a new side of our culture and civilization which we never thought existed," Abbasi told The Desert Sun. "In the Western media and anaylses about Iran, there was always this last paragraph that the situation is bad and dark, but maybe there will come a generation and this generation of young people would change things and they'd have different values. Lo and behold, that generation is here, and they're really progressive in a way that I almost find it shocking."

"This is the first time I would say there's a political movement in Iran that is based on women's rights, rights of minorities and freedom, and it's not about gasoline is expensive or we want to have this election or not. It's about fundamental human rights, not only in affluent upper middle class areas in Tehran, but it's about human rights in villages in the middle of the desert," he continued. "It is really both tragic because the reason people are in the streets because the regime keeps killing young people, but there's some beauty watching this huge organism becoming one and standing up."

It's also made conversations about "Holy Spider" even more important. Any time the film is discussed, it always ends up coming back to the protests in Iran, which Abbasi said is "really what motivates me."

"That is more important to me than statues or nominations because we are part of an incredibly important moment in Iranian history, and I would say the history of the Middle East, that really can make a difference for millions of people, and it cannot be talked about enough," he added.

"Holy Spider," though, has garnered its fair share of support since its release. Amir-Ebrahimi won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and is Denmark's official submission to the International Feature Film category for the 95th Academy Awards. The film will also play at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

Based on the true story of an Iranian serial killer, Abbasi said he remembers following the story at the time, but recalls it not being as well-known as one would expect. It was also a story that made him question the competence and negligence of Iranian law enforcement. The director said the killer had a very clear pattern of where he was picking up the women, disposing their bodies and even calling members of the media to inform them of his latest killings.

When it came to writing the story, Abbasi did not want to create a true crime story, but rather a film noir. Although many of the details are based on reality, the director took some liberties by changing the killer's name and even modifying some hard-to-believe moments. Abbasi said Hanaei had tenants living downstairs when he was committing the murders, who somehow never questioned what was taking place upstairs. If he kept that element in the movie, "it would just be too unbelievable," he said.

The film has received criticism, especially from Western critics, Abbasi said, over its depiction of violence against women. He said he did not set out to create a film about the "plight of Iranian women," although that is interwoven throughout the story. Instead, he wanted to depict Iranian life in a way that most cinema doesn't.

"The concreteness and harshness and the moral indignation that we have, it's not really present in the mainstream Iranian cinema. The same way that you see movies from the U.S. I'm really shocked when I'm walking around Los Angeles or New York or any bigger city, almost on every street there is a homeless person, and I'm thinking of American movies that I watch. How many homeless people are there in 'Spider-Man'?" Abbasi said. "These things have been there and they are there, but it's not only because it comes from Iran, but it's a specific sensibility that we make it our duty or we make it our priority to depict these details as well."

He added that stars Amir-Ebrahimi and Bajestani weren't too afraid to dive into the darker parts of Iranian culture either and that they felt "it was a necessary part of the process to pay justice to it."

In Iran, audience reception has been "insanely positive," he said, which has exceeded his wildest dreams. During one screening, an 85-year-old woman told him how proud she was of the film, and he never would have thought an elderly woman would react in that way to a "really violent arthouse movie with a blowjob scene." However, it showed him that there are many out there who have been longing for something more in films.

"I feel this speaks somehow to my initial thesis when we were making the movie. We have been so bad at depicting our own life in a truthful way," Abbasi said. "It's been a very heavily retouched image of Iran that we've presented to the world, and there is real thirst after something that feels more true."

How to Watch

What: 'Holy Spider'

When and Where: 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7 at Palm Springs High School; 6:45 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8 at Regal Cinemas Palm Springs; and 9 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 15 at Camelot Theatres (Palm Springs Cultural Center)

Cost: $13 for general seating

More info: psfilmfest.org

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. She's also a member of the Hollywood Critics Association. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 'Holy Spider' director Ali Abbasi discusses Iranian protests