Zalava | زالاوا

Synopsis: In 1978, the inhabitants of a small village in Iran called Zalava claim there is a demon among them. Massoud, a young gendarmerie sergeant, who investigates this claim encounters an exorcist attempting to rid the village of the demon. When he arrests the exorcist on charges of fraud, the villagers fear and anger escalate. Massoud and his love interest, a government doctor, soon find themselves trapped in a cursed house, surrounded by villagers who believe they are both possessed by the demon.

Director’s Biography: Amiri was born on 1975 in Iranian Kurdistan. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Film Directing from the Art University of Tehran and a master’s in Dramatic Literature from the University of Tehran. In 2003, He began to write scripts, edit, and make documentaries. His first co-written feature script, Nahid (2015), directed by Ida Panahandeh, won the Promising Future Prize in Un Certain Regard at the 68^th Cannes Film Festival. He continued his collaboration with Panahandeh in her last three films: Israfil (2017), The Nikaidos' Fall (2018- Japan & Hong Kong), and TiTi ‌ (2020) as co-writer, editor, and producer. He made his first feature film, Zalava in 2021 in Kurdistan of Iran.