Zalava (Persian: زالاوا‎) is a 2021 Iranian horror drama film directed by Arsalan Amiri and written by Amiri, Ida Panahandeh and Tahmineh Bahramalian.[1][2] The film screened for the first time at the 39th Fajr Film Festival and earned 6 nominations and received 4 awards.[3][4]

Zalava
Film poster
Directed by	Arsalan Amiri
Written by	Arsalan Amiri Ida Panahandeh Tahmineh Bahramalian
Produced by	Rouhollah Baradari Samira Baradari
Starring	Navid Pourfaraj Pouria Rahimi Sam Hoda Zeinolabedin
Cinematography	Mohammad Rasouli
Edited by	Emad Khodabakhsh
Music by	Ramin Kousha
Production company	Touba Films
Distributed by	LevelK
Release dates	February 1, 2021 (2021-02-01) (FIFF) June 29, 2022 (2022-06-29) (Iran)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	Iran
Languages	Persian Kurdish

Cast

• Navid Pourfaraj as Sergeant Masoud Ahmadi
• Pouria Rahimi Sam as Amardan
• Hoda Zeinolabedin as Malihe
• Baset Rezaei as Younes
• Fereydoun Hamedi as Amous
• Shahou Rostami as Khalaj
• Mahsa Hejazi as Khalaj's daughter
• Leila Beigi as Leila
• Zahed Zandi as Sergeant Amini
• Saleh Rahimi as Arhim
• Hadi Ahmadi as Soldier
• Darioush Karim Raouf as Zalava People
• Salar Zarei as Zalava People
• Masoud Beigi as Zalava People
• Kordowan Boustan as Musician
• Varya Amini as Zalava People
• Asad Houshman as Zalava People
• Azin Kananian as Zalava People
• Romina Haji Hosseini as Zalava People
• Narin Malek as Zalava People
• Keyvan Sheikh Ahmadi as Zalava People

Reception

Critical response

The performances of Navid Pourfaraj and Pouria Rahimi Sam garnered critical acclaim and both received Crystal Simorgh nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, with Rahimi Sam winning.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10.

Marking a confident, cinema-literate feature debut for helmer and co-writer Arsalan Amiri, a member of the Iranian Kurdish minority, the film puts a new spin on genre conventions. But perhaps its biggest asset is the performance of tall, toned and impressively mustached star Navid Pourfaraj as the sergeant of a nearby gendarmerie, whose attempts to lay down the law with the trigger-happy residents of Zalava result in unintended consequences.

— Variety / Alissa Simon[5]

Amiri has made the village of the film with precise mezzanine, costume design, accent form and behavior and has worked properly on these things.

— Haft / Massoud Farasati[6]

Accolades

Arsalan Amiri winning the Grand Prize Venice International Critics' Week at the 78th Venice International Film Festival.

References

External links

• Zalava at IMDb