'The Apprentice' director Ali Abbasi insisted his new film about Donald Trump is "not a hatchet job"

He told Variety: "I am quite shocked, to be honest. This is not a political piece. It's not a hit piece; it's not a hatchet job; it's not propaganda. The fact that it's been so challenging is shocking."

The director - who was born in Iran - was condemned by the country's government over his last film 'Holy Spider' but he was still more shocked by the reaction to his Trump project. He added: "OK, that's Iran - that is unfortunately expected. But I wasn't expecting this [over 'The Apprentice']."

The new movie covers Trump's rise from real estate developer to a household name in the 1980s and is set before he became the star of his own reality TV show 'The Apprentice' which gives the movie its name.

The film did eventually sell to a small distribution company - which launched a crowdfunding campaign to get the movie into cinemas in October - but it's still not won over Trump's team who dec lared the movie belongs in a "dumpster fire".

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign told Variety: "This 'film' is pure malicious defamation, should never see the light of day and doesn't even deserve a place in the straight-to-DVD section of a bargain bin at a soon-to-be-closed discount movie store, it belongs in a dumpster fire."

'The Apprentice' lands in cinemas in the US on October 11 - just weeks before the country goes to the polls for the November 4 election as Republican candidate Trump takes on Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris in a bid to land a second term in the White House.