ZALAVA

 Director: ARSALAN AMÎRÎ

 Time: 93’

 Year of Production: 2021

 Language: KURDÎ

 Subtitle: TIRKÎ-INGILÎZÎ

Synopsis

In 1978, the residents of a small Iranian village called Zalava claim that there is a demon among them. Investigating this claim, young gendarmerie sergeant Mesud meets an exorcist trying to rid the village of demons. When Mesud arrests the exorcist for fraud, the villagers’ fear and anger intensify. Soon, Mesud and his lover, a state doctor, find themselves in a cursed house, surrounded by villagers who believe the demon has possessed them.

 

Biography

Arsalan Amîrî is a Kurdish-Iranian filmmaker who won Critics’ Week Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Venice Film Festival (2021) for his debut film “Zalava”. He worked as a screenwriter and editor on the feature film “Nahid” (Dir. Ida Panahandeh), which received the Prix de l’Avenir at the Cannes Film Festival (2015). In recent years, Amîrî has collaborated on acclaimed films and series as a screenwriter and editor. The most recent of which is the series “At The End of The Night “, is now a candidate for awards at the 2025 Series Mania Festival.