Zalava

The Kurdish village of Zalava is home to evil demons. At least, that is what its inhabitants think, and so from time to time the village is witness to bloody conflicts with those presumed to be possessed by them. When local police sergeant Masoud wants to confiscate the villagers’ weapons and dares to call the shaman Amardan a charlatan and even to arrest him, this triggers a massive wave of ill will within the community that leads to unexpected casualties. Set against the backdrop of the Iranian revolution, Arsalan Amiri’s feature-length horror debut explores the dilemma between reason and intuition, tradition and modernity, individualism and social pressure. By its sinister nature, the mystery of Schrödinger’s demon will unsettle even the most skeptical viewers. (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival)