Istanbul filmfest to host ‘Zalava’

The Istanbul Film Festival in Turkey has been slated to host Iranian award-winning movie ‘Zalava’.

Directed by Arsalan Amiri, the film will be screened at the 41st edition of the Turkish event.

The movie 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 synopsis for ‘Zalava’ 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, decided to burn down the house.”

Navid Pour-Faraj, Pouria Rahimi-Sam and Hoda Zeinolabedin have played the key roles.

The Istanbul Film Festival is organized by the non-profit cultural institution Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts (IKSV).

The festival aims to promote and support artistic and cultural productions.

The upcoming edition of the event will be held on April 8-19.

FM/MG