Zar Amir Ebrahimi, best acting award for Holy Spider

Powerful statement by Zar Amir Ebrahimi, best acting award for Holy Spider who was forced into exile in 2006 by a smear campaign for a film she was in. She said she had been "saved by cinema".

"This film is about women, it's about their bodies, it's a movie full of faces, hair, hands, feet, breasts, sex -- everything that is impossible to show in Iran".The film is inspired by the true story of a working class man who killed prostitutes in the early 2000s and became known as the "Spider Killer".

"Holy Spider" suggests there was little official pressure to catch the murderer, who ends up a hero among the religious right.

"The movie is not only about a serial killer ... it's about a serial killer society..."

Any serious movie that manages to get made in the Islamic Republic "is a miracle". (Ali Abbasi director).

Moira Sullivan

FilmFestivals.com

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