Zahra Amir Ebrahimi Stars in First Trailer for ‘Shayda’ from Australia
by Alex Billington
July 25, 2023
Source: YouTube
“How do you plan on surviving there all alone?” Madman Films in Australia has revealed an official trailer for a wonderful film titled Shayda, marking the feature directorial debut of a talented filmmaker named Noora Niasari. This is screening soon at the 2023 Melbourne Film Festival before it opens in Australia this September. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, winning the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic section. I saw it during Sundance and it’s fantastic – one of the best feature debuts of the entire year. A young Iranian mother named Shayda and her six-year-old daughter find refuge in an Australian women’s shelter during the two weeks of the Iranian New Year. When the girl’s father shows up, it takes all of her courage to fight back and stop him from taking over. The extremely talented Zahra Amir Ebrahimi (also from last year’s Holy Spider) stars, with Osamah Sami, Leah Purcell, Jillian Nguyen, Mojean Aria, Selina Zahednia, and Rina Mousavi. This is one of my favorite indie discoveries of 2023 so far, the filmmaking is stunning and the performances are exceptional. Highly recommend seeking it out.
Here’s the first Australian trailer for Noora Niasari’s Shayda, direct from Madman’s YouTube:
A young Iranian mother named Shayda (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) and her six-year-old daughter find refuge in an Australian women’s shelter during the two weeks of Iranian New Year (Nowrooz) which is celebrated as a time of renewal and rebirth. Aided by the strong community of women at the refuge they seek their freedom in this new world of possibilities, only to find themselves facing the violence they tried so hard to escape. Shayda is both written and directed by Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari, making her feature directorial debut after numerous other short films previously. Produced by Vincent Sheehan and Noora Niasari. This initially premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, where it won an Audience Award. Madman Films will open Niasari’s Shayda in Australian cinemas starting on September 28th, 2023 coming soon. No US release date is set – stay tuned for updates. First impression? Interested?
