Ali Abbasi (, born 1981) is an Iranian-Danish filmmaker. He is known for his films '' Shelley'' (2016), ''

Border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

'' (2018), '' Holy Spider'' (2022), and '' The Apprentice'' (2024). Abbasi also directed the last two episodes of the first season of the series '' The Last of Us''. He has received various accolades, including an

Un Certain Regard (; 'A Certain Glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films with unusua ...

award, four

Robert Awards The Robert Award () is a Danish film prize awarded each year by the Danish Film Academy since 1984. Description The Robert-Prisen (Robert Award) is an annual award given by the Danish Film Academy, launched in 1984. It is the Danish equivalent ...

, and a German Film Award, in addition to nominations for seven

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the mos ...

, a Goya Award, and two

Guldbagge Awards The Guldbagge Awards (, ) is an official and annual Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a rose chafer, better known by the name Guldbaggen. The awards, first ...

. His films have also been nominated for multiple

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

Early life

Abbasi attended Tehran Polytechnic until 2002, when he emigrated to Sweden to study architecture at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. After earning his bachelor of arts in 2007, he enrolled at the National Film School of Denmark, earning a degree in 2011 with the short film ''M for Markus''. Abbasi lives in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

and continues to hold an Iranian passport.

Career

2018: ''Border''

In 2018, Abbasi premiered his second film, ''

''. It won the

award at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

, was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. Although the film didn't get a nomination in that category, it earned a nomination for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

2022: ''Holy Spider''

His third feature film, '' Holy Spider'', came out in 2022 and was a Persian-language co-production between Sweden, Denmark, France, and Germany. Based on the true story of Saeed Hanaei, a serial killer who targeted sex workers and killed sixteen women from 2000 to 2001 in

Mashhad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. ...

, Iran, the film depicts a fictional female journalist investigating a serial killer. The film was selected to compete for the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered on 22 May 2022. Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who starred in the film, won the festival's Best Actress Award. The film was selected as the Danish entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, and made the December shortlist.

2024: ''The Apprentice''

Abbasi's latest film, '' The Apprentice'', a portrait of a young

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. The film was nominated for two

Oscars The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence i ...

at the

97th Academy Awards The 97th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly r ...

, including Best Actor for Sebastian Stan and Best Supporting Actor for Jeremy Strong.

Groping allegation

In February 2025, Abbasi was accused of

groping Groping is a form of sexual harassment involving the intentional inappropriate touching of another person commonly without their consent. The term generally has a negative connotation in many societies. Touching a consenting person's body d ...

an unnamed actor at a Golden Globes after-party hosted by Creative Artists Agency (CAA). No named witnesses publicly came forward about the alleged incident, however. Abbasi himself released a statement clarifying his account of what occurred. Initial reports suggested that Abbasi was dropped by his own representatives at CAA as well as by his management and legal teams, due to the incident, but Abbasi clarified in his statement that he himself had ended those relationships in "a long-term career decision".

Filmography

Film

Television

Critical reception

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abbasi, Ali 1981 births Living people Iranian film directors Iranian expatriates in Denmark Iranian expatriates in Sweden Danish people of Iranian descent