#Saeed Hanaei

[whileiamdying]

Holy Spider: why this Iranian neo-noir is attracting so much controversy

FILM & TV FEATURE

Director Ali Abbasi talks about his new film, Holy Spider – an evocative exploration of misogyny in Iran, which follows the real-life story of early 00s serial killer Saeed Hanaei.

20 January 2023 Text: Nick Chen

Holy Spider seems to have captured a moment. The Persian-language serial-killer thriller, written and directed by Ali Abbasi, is an evocative exploration of misogyny in Iran, and its theatrical release has run in parallel with the country’s protests for women’s rights. However, on a Zoom call from LA in mid-January, the 42-year-old genre-hopper suggests it’s not that simple. “I don’t feel like my movie is a topical movie,” says Abbasi. “It’s not about the plight of Iranian women. It’s not about how bad the government is. It’s a cinematic experience I’m proud of, that I finetuned for many years, and is about something more universal that sometimes gets drowned in the political conversation.

“But I’m happy that every time my movie gets mentioned, the uprising in Iran comes up. It’s such a huge moment. If I can get people’s attention to it, that’s great.”

Though Holy Spider, which was shot in Jordan, resembles an Iran-set Se7en, its lurid, movie-ready plot draws from the real-life case of Saeed Hanaei, a war veteran who murdered 16 women in 2000 and 2001, landing himself the nickname of the “Spider Killer”. As documented by Abbasi’s script, Hanaei’s choice of victim – he sought out sex workers – meant that Mashad’s conservatives considered him to be a local hero.

The support for Hanaei (played with a chilling amiability by Mehdi Bajestani) is particularly sinister as the film’s first half depicts several of the killings from his POV, as well as the façade of a friendly father he presented on the side. So much so, at Cannes, a Guardian critic tweeted, “I hate that I was made to watch this hateful, reprehensible, atrocious motion picture…  I am confident (hopeful?) it will never see the light of day in American theatres.” In actuality, the film was picked up by Neon in the US and MUBI in the UK; it’s also shortlisted as Denmark’s entry for Best International Feature at the Oscars.

Chuckling when I reference the tweet, Abbasi posits that film critics tend to underestimate general audiences, and that they themselves can be narrow-minded. “These people expect something from an Iranian movie,” the director says. “It’s the Nespresso principle. When you go to a festival, you have the cool movie from the US, the edgy movie from Korea, and then the movie about misery told in a metaphorical way that’s heavily censored from Iran. When my movie doesn’t behave like an Iranian movie, they think it’s flawed.”

He continues, “I’ve seen reactions change from Cannes, some from the people who felt the movie was getting pleasure out of women being tortured in close-ups. A few months later, they understood there was a context for it when the uprising in Iran started. Nowadays, I get requests from feminist magazines, and it’s seen as a feminist film.”

After all, the real protagonist of Holy Spider is Arezoo Rahimi, a journalist who tracks down the Spider Killer, even disguising herself as a sex worker to attract his attention. The role is played by Zar Amir Ebrahimi, a casting director for the film who ended up playing the lead when the original actor dropped out at the last moment. While Ebrahimi has prior screen experience – she was a former TV star in Iran who fled the country following the leak of a sex tape – there’s still noticeable grit to a performance that won her the Best Actress prize at Cannes.

‘There’s the DNA of the Islamic Republic in this. The suppression of women and sexuality isn’t a fluke; it’s very much part of the system, and what keeps them going. I think that’s the main reason they’re so angry with us. They look at our movie and see themselves in the mirror. And they don’t like it’

Abbasi himself has a history of bizarre, unconventional films that are oddly watchable despite how their premises read on paper. While Abbasi lived in Iran during the years Holy Spider took place, he went to film school in Denmark, which was where he shot the 2016 slow-burn horror Shelley. However, his breakthrough was 2018’s Border, a Swedish, transgressive, gender-bending romance that toys with prosthetics, trauma, and the endless possibilities of the human body.

Tellingly, Holy Spider thanks two genre titans, Bong Joon-ho and David Lynch, in its end credits. The former, a friend of Abbasi’s, offered feedback on drafts and early cuts; the latter, more of an acquaintance, is a lifelong inspiration. I ask Abbasi to what extent he wanted Holy Spider to be as entertaining as, say, Parasite, when it’s also dealing with real tragedies.

“I don’t do a product,” says Abbasi. “When you do a studio movie, it’s like ice cream. An idea goes through a process of development. Prototypes are tested and tweaked. But my way of working is more intuitive. Do I want it to be entertaining? Yes and no. Because the subject matter is so heavy, it’s important there’s a force against its inertia. I want to give people motivation to wait for the next minute. Some people will find the decisions tasteless, and others vice-versa. It’s something I’m really aware of.”

The Lynch influence is more apparent in the neo-noir lighting of Mashad’s night-time sequences, including a blowjob scene that required a producer to smuggle a prosthetic penis into Jordan. Shortly after the Cannes premiere, Iran’s culture minister Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili warned, “If persons from inside Iran are involved with the film Holy Spider, they will surely receive punishment from the Cinema Organisation of Iran.”

“Iran has always been seen as a conservative country,” says Abbasi. “But it’s a country where everything is almost hypersexualised. You’re acutely aware – at least in the heterosexual context – that when you go on a bus, you go to the men’s part or women’s part. You shouldn’t touch women in this way or that way. I worked with women for years without shaking their hand.

“But what makes it very charged is that there’s a whole system that wants to intrude on people’s lives. They want to literally control how and who and where you fuck. At the same time, there are a lot of contradictions. Sex outside of marriage is banned and frowned upon, as is prostitution. On the other hand, you have temporary marriage, which is basically state prostitution that happens in religious offices.”

He continues, “There’s the DNA of the Islamic Republic in this. The suppression of women and sexuality isn’t a fluke; it’s very much part of the system, and what keeps them going. I think that’s the main reason they’re so angry with us. They look at our movie, specifically Saeed’s character, and see themselves in the mirror. And they don’t like it.”

Also during the pandemic, Abbasi was a director on HBO’s adaptation of the videogame The Last of Us. Kantemir Balagov, the intended helmer of the pilot, left due to creative differences, and Abbasi commented to IndieWire in May 2022 that “the Hollywood system is a little bit like working in Iran for me. I can’t do it.”

When asked about those remarks now, Abbasi says, “I just saw the first episode, and I think it’s turned out great. I’m happy and proud of working on it. It’s not like I’m negative about it. Coming from Europe, [Hollywood] has strange rules and regulations, and that’s not a secret. There’s a lack of transparency, and everyone’s afraid of tackling controversial subjects. Those things remind me of Iran, absolutely.

“But Iranian cinema is a propaganda machine for a criminal, ruthless, brutal regime. I don’t think that’s where Hollywood is, really.”

Holy Spider is out in UK cinemas on January 20

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#Holy Spider #Iran #Cinema #Saeed Hanaei #Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili #Arezoo Rahimi #Dazed Magazine

[hannibal-or-maybe-just-rex]

Holy Spider (2022, Ali Abbasi. IMDb 7.1)

Female journalist Rahimi travels to the Iranian holy city of Mashhad to investigate a serial killer targeting sex workers. As she draws closer to exposing his crimes, the opportunity for justice grows harder to attain when the murderer is embraced by many as a hero. Based on the true story of the 'Spider Killer' Saeed Hanaei, who saw himself as on a mission from God as he killed 16 women between 2000 and 2001.

#holy spider #holy spider movie #ali abbasi #movie poster

[impresionesdedaniel]

Holy Spider

Holy Spider, por MUBI Holy Spider es una película que aborda el caso real del asesino serial Saeed Hanaei, un fundamentalista islámico que entre 2000 y 2001 asesinó a 16 prostitutas en la ciudad sagrada iraní de Mashhad. Reseña completa:

Holy Spider es una película que aborda el caso real del asesino serial Saeed Hanaei, un fundamentalista islámico que entre 2000 y 2001 asesinó a 16 prostitutas en la ciudad sagrada iraní de Mashhad. La película del iraní radicado en Dinamarca Ali Abassi alterna la vida cotidiana del asesino y sus crímenes (gran papel de Mehdi Bajestani, en un personaje inquietante, torturado y detestable) con la…

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#casos reales #cine #cine dinamarqués #cine iraní #MUBI #policial #thriller

[biglisbonnews]

Holy Spider: why this Iranian neo-noir is attracting so much controversy Director Ali Abbasi talks about his new film, Holy Spider – an evocative exploration of misogyny in Iran, which follows the real-life story of early 00s serial killer Saeed Hanaei https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/57998/1/holy-spider-iranian-neo-noir-misogyny-controversy-ali-abbasi-interview?utm_source=Link&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=RSSFeed&utm_term=holy-spider-why-this-iranian-neo-noir-is-attracting-so-much-controversy

#Nick Chen #Dazed

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Jurnalista Rahimi călătorește în orașul sfânt iranian Mashhad pentru a investiga cazul unui criminal în serie care ucide lucrătoare sexuale. Pe măsură ce Rahimi se apropie de demascarea crimelor, presiunile politice si religioase cresc iar ocazia de a se face dreptate devine din ce în ce mai îndepărtată: criminalul este văzut de mulți ca un erou.Filmul are la bază un caz real, cel al criminalului Saeed Hanaei numit „Spider Killer”, care între 2000 și 2001 a ucis 16 femei în ceea ce a numit „o misiune sfântă”.

TITLU ORIGINAL: Holy spider 2D GENUL FILMULUI: Crimă, Dramă, Thriller DISTRIBUȚIE Mehdi Bajestani, Zar Amir-Ebrahimi, Arash Ashtiani, Forouzan Jamshidnejad REGIZOR Ali Abbasi PRODUCȚIE 2023 Limbă nativă DAN CLASIFICARE N/A

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[deadlinecom]

[365store]

‘Holy Spider’ Leads Prize List At Stockholm International FF; Other Wins Include Frances O’Connor And Laura Poitras

‘Holy Spider’ Leads Prize List At Stockholm International FF; Other Wins Include Frances O’Connor And Laura Poitras

The big winner at the Stockholm International Film Festival 2022 was Holy Spider, directed by Swedish-Danish-Iranian Ali Abbasi. Complete list of winners below The film won the Bronze Horse for Best Film, while lead actor Mehdi Bajestani was named Best Male Actor for his role as serial killer Saeed Hanaei. The film was based on the true story of the so-called ‘Spider-Killer’ who targeted sex…

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[whileiamdying]

Fuerte film iraní sobre un criminal "moralista"

Holy Spider. La historia de un “sátiro moral” que mataba mujeres.

Por Paraná Sendrós 26 Enero 2023

Un albañil, padre de familia, con unos cables sueltos en materia de moral y religión, sale de noche en la moto y a veces, cuando ve una mujer que quizá sea prostituta, la mata. Es una obsesión. Piensa que la ciudad, la sociedad misma, está sucia y que él ayuda a limpiarla. Lo que cuenta “Holy Spider”, araña santa, pasa en Mashhad, Irán, cerca de la frontera con Afganistán. Y lo que cuenta pasó de veras. A lo largo de once meses Saeed Hanaei acogotó dieciséis mujeres. Algunas eran prostitutas. Otras no. En agosto de 2001 la Policía lo identificó y la Justicia mandó ahorcarlo. Y aunque parezca mentira, mucha gente salió a defenderlo. Sobre este caso, el irano-canadiense Maziar Bahari, creador del sitio IranWire, hizo en 2002 un documental, “And Along Came A Spider”, y en 2020 Ebrahim Irajzad hizo “Araña asesina”, producción enteramente iraní, donde queda bien pintada una educación prejuiciosa, intolerante. La madre del asesino es la primera que le llena la cabeza. Ahora vemos “Holy Spider”, tal es su título original, coproducción de Dinamarca, Alemania, Francia y Suecia filmada en Jordania por Alí Abbasi, un iraní que a los 20 años se recibió en la Politécnica de Teheran, se fue a estudiar en la Real Academia de Ciencias de Suecia, y se quedó en Escandinavia. “Holy Spider” es inquietante, buena y hasta muy buena para quienes quieran estremecerse con las escenas de muerte, que hacen sentir el pánico de esas pobres mujeres en el momento crucial. Algo más: el personaje principal es una mujer periodista que al querer investigar los crímenes choca con policías y demás hombres que acaso en el fondo simpaticen con el asesino. Esto suena a lugar común, pero funciona. Protagonista, Zar (nacida Zahra) Amir Ebrahimi, que alguna vez fue actriz de telenovelas iraníes, hasta que le descubrieron un video íntimo y logró escapar a Francia un día antes de ser condenada a 10 años de cárcel y 99 latigazos.

#Irán #Cinema #Holy Spider #Paraná Sendrós #Saeed Hanaei #Maziar Bahari

[viralnews-1]

'Holy Spider' Confronts The Debate Around Fact vs. Fiction In Film

‘Holy Spider’ Confronts The Debate Around Fact vs. Fiction In Film

Around the time when Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, someone on Twitter posted something to the effect that we can no longer tiptoe around the facts in front of us: “Everything is political now.” This thought, which turned out to be pervasively true, again sprang to mind after watching “Holy Spider,” the taut new film noir loosely inspired by the case of Saeed Hanaei, the serial…

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[cinegoremagazin]

[:hu]Serial Chillers különkiadás: Saeed Hanaei / Szent Pók (2022)[:]

[:hu]Serial Chillers különkiadás: Saeed Hanaei / Szent Pók (2022)[:]

[:hu]Sorozatgyilkosok a világ minden országában előfordulnak, de ahogyan más hírekre is igaz, a tőlünk földrajzilag vagy kulturálisan távol eső országok ügyeiről jóval kevesebbet hallunk. Idén a Cannes-i Filmfesztiválon debütáló Szent Pók című filmnek köszönhetően az európai közönség is megismerhette az iráni sorozatgyilkos, Saeed Hanaei nevét, és nevének ismertsége minden bizonnyal tovább nő…

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[awardseasonblog]

Prime reazioni al film iraniano #HolySpider di #AliAbbasi, incentrato sulla vera storia di Saeed Hanaei, un uomo che ha ucciso 16 prostitute nella città sacra di Mashhad nel 2000 e nel 2001, prima di essere arrestato, processato e poi rivendicato come un eroe nazionale e religioso che aveva "ripulito" l'Iran dai suoi vizi. "Abbasi trasforma il controverso caso nazionale sia in un thriller violento teso a catturare l'assassino, sia in una critica al sistema teocratico punitivo della sua patria, dove le donne sembrano sempre essere colpevoli di qualcosa, anche quando sono vittime di un omicidio a sangue freddo" (Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter) "Una procedura tesa e intricata nella rete malvagia del patriarcato iraniano. È una dichiarazione di intenti, che mostra un lodevole istinto di umanizzazione e dimensionalizzazione delle vittime e delle loro famiglie, che sono rappresentate in modo toccante nonostante la brevità del loro tempo sullo schermo." (Jessica Kiang, Variety) "Questo è un thriller drammatico romanzato basato sull'operaio edile iraniano Saeed Hanaei, soprannominato "Spider Killer" dalla stampa, che nel 2001 è stato arrestato per l'omicidio di 16 prostitute nella città nord-orientale di Mashad, ed è diventato un popolare eroe del diritto religioso per aver affermato di essere in missione santa per ripulire la città dalla prostituzione. Hanaei è già stato oggetto di un documentario e di un altro lungometraggio." (Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian) #CriticsReviews #Cannes2022 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd8l09Tsjdb/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#holyspider #aliabbasi #criticsreviews #cannes2022

[apocalypticmovierp]

‘Holy Spider’ Review: Ali Abbasi’s Iranian True Crime Procedural Underwhelms [Cannes]

A drastic departure from his prior films “Border” and “Shelley,” Ali Abbasi’s newest film, “Holy Spider,” draws inspiration from the 2000-2001 crimes and subsequent trial of Saeed Hanaei (played here by Mehdi Bajestani), a war veteran-turned-serial killer in the Iranian city of Mashhad who murdered 16 sex workers, claiming that he was cleansing the holy city of sinners and corruption in the name of Islam.

Continue reading ‘Holy Spider’ Review: Ali Abbasi’s Iranian True Crime Procedural Underwhelms [Cannes] at The Playlist.

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[thekillerblogofkillers]

Saeed Hanaei (1962-2002)

Saeed Hanaei, also known as the Spider Killer, was an Iranian serial killer who targeted sex workers in Mashhad, often women who were also drug addicts. At the time of his killings he was married with 3 children. Hanaei’s killings were referred to as the “Spider Killings” in the media due to how he lured the women to his home, strangled them, and disposed of their bodies. He is believed to have killed at least 16 women in a year-long span before being caught by police. In August 2000, Hanaei killed Afsaneh Karimpour, 30; Layla, who was found under a tomato bush; and Fariba Rahimpur, who was discovered in a burlap sack. The following January, Hanaei killed a woman named Massoumeh. In February he committed two murders: those of Sarah Rahmani, 27, and Azam Abdi, 45. In March 2001 the body of 50-year-old Sakineh Kayhanzadeh was found in a black cloth; the following week the body of Khadijeh Full Qasri was found, strangled with her own scarf. April 2001 was a busy period – within 2 days the bodies of Marzieh Saadatyan, 35, and Maryam, also 35, were found and a 3rdbody, that of 31-year-old Azra Hajizadeh, was found a week later. A trio of dead women, 28-year-old Maryam Beygi, Shiva and Zahra, all strangled, were found on July 3, followed by a 20-year-old woman named Leila the following week and the body of 18-year-old Mahboube Allah a week after that. In August 2001, Hanaei’s final victim, 33-year-old Zahra Dadkhosravi, was found.

Hanaei claimed that his motive for murder was to help cleanse the city of moral corruption, claiming in court that he began killing sex workers after his wife was mistaken for one. After his arrest, Hanaei gained supporters who believed he was trying to do a good thing – his lawyer actually volunteered to defend him. Conservative newspaper Jomhuri Islami said: “Who is to be judged? Those who look to eradicate the sickness or those who stand at the root of the corruption?” One of Hanaei’s friends is quoted as saying: “He did the right thing. He should have continued.” Hanaei was found guilty and was hanged at dawn on April 8, 2002 in Mashhad Prison.

#serial killer #text post #textpost #iran #masshad #sex worker #strangulation #execution #hanged #murder #spider