Ali Abbasi's Film About Trump to Be Released Before the U.S. Elections

The film "The Apprentice" directed by Iranian-Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, which focuses on Donald Trump's youth, is set to be screened in U.S. cinemas before the presidential elections in November after securing a distributor. The film, starring Sebastian Stan as the former U.S. president, was first unveiled in the competition section of this year's Cannes Film Festival and sparked controversies. The Associated Press reported on Friday, September 9, that the independent company "Briarcliff Entertainment" will release Abbasi's film in theaters in the U.S. and Canada starting October 11. During the film's premiere at Cannes, Abbasi expressed strong enthusiasm for the film's release before the upcoming U.S. presidential elections, especially as some prominent distributors chose not to show interest in this cinematic drama. Abbasi mentioned that some powerful individuals in the U.S. were not keen on the film's release. One reason for the lack of interest from distributors was the potential threat of legal action. Following the initial screening at Cannes in May, Donald Trump's campaign issued a statement calling the film "fictional garbage" and threatened to sue its creators for what they termed as falsehoods. Steven Chung, a spokesperson for Trump's campaign, stated that the Trump team would take legal action against those who pretend to be filmmakers and spread blatant lies. In response to the criticism, Abbasi suggested that Trump himself might not dislike the film after watching it. He added, "I propose that wherever he wants, we go and meet him to discuss the film's context, have a screening, and then chat afterward." "The Apprentice" depicts Trump's rise in the real estate business in New York under the supervision of his seasoned lawyer, Michael Cohen, played by Jeremy Strong. Abbasi claims the film is inspired by real events and portrays the relationships that led to Trump's emergence as a businessman and later as a powerful politician. In the film's beginning, Trump is portrayed as a naive individual in real estate who becomes an expert in business after meeting Cohen. Towards the end of the film, Trump is shown assaulting his wife, Ivana Trump, played by Maria Bakalova. This portrayal references Ivana Trump's 1990 divorce report, where she claimed her husband had assaulted her. Trump denied this allegation, and Ivana later clarified that she did not mean actual sexual assault but felt that Trump had violated her. She also stated in 2005 that they have three children together and still care for each other. Ivana Trump passed away in 2022. The U.S. presidential election is set for November 5 (15 Aban), with Donald Trump as the Republican candidate expected to compete against Kamala Harris, the U.S. Vice President, who was officially announced as the Democratic candidate last week.