“The Russian government is giving back to their Islamic Republic ally”

Iranian director Ali Abbasi responds to Russia banning his serial killer thriller for unknown reasons holy spider A few days after the show.

The move comes amid growing military and economic ties between Russia and Iran, with both ruling regimes now isolated on the world stage.

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“By prohibiting holy spiderthe Russian government is paying back to their ally the Islamic Republic, which has been arming the Russian military to kill innocent civilians in Ukraine,” the director said.

“I don’t know what law prohibits holy spider In Russia, but judging by the way independent media and dissidents are treated there, it does feel like a compliment that we are banned by Putin’s servants. “

“We, the makers of Holy Spider, sincerely thank the governments of both countries for their efforts to promote holy spider free. Please keep up the good work. “

Abbasi’s 2022 Cannes Palme d’Or contender explores misogyny and social injustice in Iran through the true story of a serial killer who killed 16 sex workers in the holy city of Mashhad in the early 2000s ,

Moscow-based Exponenta Film released the film in Russia on May 11, but the culture ministry revoked the film’s distribution license less than a week later.

The ministry said the ban was related to material in the film that “contains information whose dissemination is prohibited by legislation of the Russian Federation.”

Sol Bondy, a producer at Berlin-based One Two Films, said the ban was the latest in a series of hurdles and censorship issues facing the production.

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“First Turkey prevented us from shooting the film. After checking with the Turkish foreign ministry and the Turkish ambassador in Tehran, we had to move production to Jordan,” he said.

“Russia is now blocking its distribution. Anyone who has seen this film will agree that it shows nothing extraordinary compared to any European or Hollywood thriller, and that the reality of the Iranian people today is far worse. It’s sad that a country with such a rich cinematic history as Russia has come to this stage.”

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