Sony Pictures Classics will release Noora Niasari’s feature film debut Shayda in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on March 1, 2024, before expanding nationwide in the following weeks.
Inspired by Niasari’s childhood experiences, the film tells the story of an Iranian immigrant woman and her six-year-old daughter who find refuge in an Australian women’s shelter, while attempting to divorce from her abusive husband from Iran.
Shayda stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi (2022 Cannes’ Best Actress winner for Holy Spider), Osamah Sami, Leah Purcell, Jillian Nguyen, Mojean Aria, Selina Zahednia, and Rina Mousavi.
Written and directed by Niasari, Shayda was submitted by Australia as their official entry for the Best International Feature category for the 2024 Academy Awards®.
The film world premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
In the film, Shayda, an Iranian woman living in Australia, finds refuge in a women’s shelter with her 6-year-old daughter, Mona. Having fled her husband, Hossein, and filed for divorce, Shayda struggles to maintain normalcy and create a new home for Mona. Buoyed by the approach of Nowruz (Persian New Year), Shayda tries to forge a fresh start with new and unfettered freedoms. But when a judge grants Hossein visitation rights, he reenters their life, fueling Shayda’s apprehension that he’ll attempt to take Mona back to Iran. Drawn from personal experiences, Iranian-Australian filmmaker Niasari’s powerful SHAYDA is a beautifully crafted, poetic vérité portrayal of courage, compassion and the healing properties of community. Actress Ebrahimi captures the vulnerability and confliction, but also the radiant soul of an Iranian woman boldly reclaiming her human rights.
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