Shayda
It is 1995. An Iranian woman living in Australia, Shayda, is staying in an undisclosed women’s shelter, with her 6-year-old daughter Mona, having fled her abusive husband Hossein. When a judge sides with Hossein and grants him visitation rights, Shayda is afraid that he could find out the shelter's address through their daughter, or even worse, attempt to take Mona back to Iran.
Debuting Iranian-Australian writer/director Noora Niasari’s film, inspired by her childhood experiences, Shayda creates an authentic, heart-breaking portrait of a woman fighting for the right to live her own life. With her portrayal of Shayda, Zar Amir Ebrahimi, awarded in Cannes for her role in Holy Spider, again delivers a top performance.
Noora NIASARI (1989, Iran) is a writer-director and co-founder of Parandeh Pictures. She is a graduate of architecture and cinema, and her short films and documentaries have screened at film festivals from Beirut to New York. Shayda is her debut feature film, premiering in the World Dramatic Competition of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award.