Zalava

long
93'
English subtitles

Is a demon haunting Zalava? Young sergeant Massoud doesn’t think so. It is 1978, in the wake of the Iranian revolution. Massoud has been summoned to the remote Iranian-Kurdish village of Zalava with the assignment to banish a demon. The village is inhabited by former nomads who are united in their strong superstitious beliefs.

He arrests the self-declared exorcist Amardan, which turns the whole community against him. To re-win the villagers’ trust – and, in particular, that of Maliheh, a state doctor whom he is in love with – Massoud sets out to save the village, when the next emergency call comes in. However, the frantic villagers aren’t that easily reassured. Zalava is an unexpected drama with elements of the horror genre. Full of suspense and thrills, it is also a fable that speaks about how superstitions may turn into self-fulfilling prophecies.

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