TEHRAN – Iranian drama “Zalava” will be competing in the Overlook Film Festival, a 4-day celebration of all things horror held in the American city of New Orleans from June 2.

A brilliant examination of faith, science and tradition, and a terrifying horror film, “Zalava” has been directed by Arsalan Amiri, who has co-written the screenplay with Ida Panahandeh and Tahmineh Bahramalian based on stories told to him by his father.

The film is set in 1978 in a small village called “Zalava”, where the villagers claim that a demon is among them.

A military official’s skepticism gets a rude awakening when he travels to the village in this chilling, critically acclaimed Iranian tale of the line between faith and paranoia.

“Zalava” won the grand prize at the 36th Venice International Film Critics’ Week. It also brought Amiri the award for best director at the 8th Duhok International Film Festival in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.

The film is currently competing in the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival underway in the U.S. state of Minnesota.

“Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon” will be screened on the opening night of the Overlook Film Festival.

Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, the film follows a mental asylum escapee with unusual powers, who sets off on a thrilling adventure through the NOLA streets as she tries to make it on her own while on the run from the cops.

The festival will wrap up with screening “The Black Phone” by Scott Derrickson.

The minds behind Sinister and Dr. Strange return to horror with this terrifying tale of a shy 13-year-old boy, abducted and trapped in a soundproof basement by a sadistic killer, who begins to receive mysterious calls, on a dead telephone, from the killer’s previous victims.

Photo: Hoda Zeinolabedin acts in a scene from “Zalava” directed by Arsalan Amiri.

MMS/YAW