EXCLUSIVE: Here’s first footage of intriguing Cannes Competition thriller Holy Spider by Ali Abbasi.
Wild Bunch is handling sales on the film about a serial killer who is killing sex workers in the holy city of Mashhad, a pilgrimage destination (and the second largest city in Iran). Based on a true story, the film centers on a female journalist from Tehran who is trying to track the killer down – and who faces a lot of opposition from the authorities, as many secretly support the “spider killer” for removing a scandalous element.
Pic is written by Abbasi and Afshin Kamran Bahrami, and stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Mehdi Bajestani. Producers are Sol Bondy and Jacob Jarek.
Iranian-Danish director Abbasi won the Un Certain Regard competition several years ago for his Swedish troll movie Border.
