‘Zalava’ to vie at Toronto filmfest in Canada

Iranian feature ‘Zalava’ has made its way to the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada.

Directed by Arsalan Amiri, the film will compete with five other movies from around the world at the Midnight Maddens section of the 2021 edition of the event.

The film narrates an imaginary story in an imaginary land with imaginary people in the 70s.

The inter-genre film narrates the tale of people’s fear of an unknown phenomenon and their efforts to bring back security to the region.

A tagline on the movie reads, “When a village claims to be cursed by a demon, a gendarmerie sergeant attempts to denounce the exorcist in charge, whom he believes is nothing but a fraud.”

In 1978, in a small village called Zalava, some inhabitants claim there is a demon among them. Masoud, a young gendarmerie sergeant, goes to investigate. He encounters an exorcist attempting to rid the village of the demon. He arrests the exorcist on charges of fraud, but he finds himself stuck in a cursed house with his lover. The villagers, who believe they are both possessed by the demon, decide to burn down the house,” its synopsis reads.

Toronto International Film Festival is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a year-round destination for film culture operating.

The 46th edition of the festival is slated for September 9-18, 2021.

FM/FM