Shayda

Directed by Noora Niasari, Shayda narrates the experience of an Iranian immigrant (played well by Zar Amir Ebrahimi) in danger of losing her daughter to a possessive and violent husband (Osamah Sami). Supported by friends in a women's shelter run by the sympathetic Joyce (Leah Purcell), Shayda must carve out a new life for herself and her daughter Mona (Selina) free of the constraints of past. The story takes place over the celebration of the Iranian New Year (Nowruz).

The film was submitted to the Academy as Australia's entry for best International Film. It wasn't selected but it was nominated for nine AACTA awards and won for Best Casting. It's an impressive debut feature film from Niasari who won the Best Direction award from the Australian Directors Guild in 2023. Films like this have an important role to play in helping us understand the experience of migrants as well as breaking down prejudice. Broken relationships and their outcomes are common human experiences knowing no national, racial, political or religious boundaries.

Best performance by Selina Zahednia child actor. Premiered at Sundance, Shayda centers on an Iranian woman trying to preserve normalcy during Nowruz for her 6 year old daughter in Australia, while trying to escape the manipulations of her separated, abusive husband. Shayda immediately feels personal, and it is director/writer Noora Niasari telling the story of her own mother. While the movie centers on the mother, the daughter's own eyes and experience are brought to life. A brief sequence filmed from the child's perspective is particularly chilling. While this story is intimate and personal as a moment, it also feels timely as Iranian women today courageously protest and risk their lives for rights .

Except it is not iranian drama. The whole iranian part is completely irrelevant. This is a movie about a woman running away from her abusive husband. They are both in australia and she cannot go back to iran because she has sinned (im paraphrasing) and nothing good awaits her from the morality police.

She and the kid take refuge in a shelter while trying to avoid her husband and sort her immigration paperwork. She is paranoid, feels he is stalking her etc etc. The usual. Nothing new in the script.

Where does the movie go astray here then.. Simply, the movie fails to create any meaningful care for the characters. I genuinely was rooting for the father here because shayda was so wooden so unlikable and just unmemorable. It did not resonate with me at all and the movie is based on emotion, without really giving you such. The mother daughter scenes were forced and felt awkward and the scenes with the father and his people failed to portray him as the evil person she was desperate to avoid.

Social workers were good, they fit and probably the highlight of this movie... Expected better here. Was left disappointed.

5\10 unlikable characters and badly written relationships.

Finally, an authentic representation of what life can be like for people of colour in Australia. The nuanced and complex characters make you want to go with them on their journey even when the film is over. Noora Niasari has smashed it out of the park with her debut and I can't wait to see more from this director!! The camera team has done a fantastic job to capture the sometimes dark but muted beauty of Melbourne The lead actors are phenomenal and the subtle twists and turns in the move always keep you glued to the screen. Australian film making at its finest. It would be a tragedy to miss this film in the theatres.

This powerful and affecting drama tells the story of Shayda, who is a young Iranian mother who has immigrated to Australia. She seeks refuge with her daughter at an Australian women's shelter during the two weeks of the Iranian New Year (Nowruz) after experiencing abuse from her husband. Shayda wants to build a new life for herself and her daughter. But when a judge rules that her husband can have unsupervised access to see Mona, things become more complicated.

The acting in Shayda is excellent, especially Zar Amir Ebrahimi's performance as Shayda. The characters are well-developed and three-dimensional. The slow pacing allows time for this to happen. Shayda and Mona's characters are very compelling. The dialogue is well-written and feels authentic, particularly in the scenes when Shayda tells her story to a lawyer. It's a potent scene.

Nora Niasari's direction is strong, and the movie's verité-style intensity gives it the feel of a thriller (in terms of predictability rather than action), which adds to the tension and emotional impact of the story. The cinematography by Sherwin Akbarzadeh feels immersive, and the use of shadows and lighting adds to the film's atmosphere. The movie is also shown on screen in a tucked-in aspect ratio where the image is presented with black bars on all four sides of the screen, creating a smaller, more condensed image. This makes our experience of the story more intense and immersive because it concentrates the drama and emotion of the story. I mentioned the pacing of the movie, allowing for the development of rich three-dimensional characters. There are times, however, when the film feels a bit slow.

Shayda made me feel a range of emotions: sadness and anger at the abuse Shayda and her daughter experienced to hope and admiration for the resilience and strength that enabled them to survive and rise above their circumstances.

Shayda is not just a drama for entertainment. It tells about the struggles of Iranian women everywhere and the strength of the love of a mother for her children. The relationship between Shayda and Mona was portrayed with such authenticity and heart, and the tenderness with which Shayda nurtures and guides Mona through the complex situation they are experiencing was profoundly moving to me.

Shayada is a powerful movie, and if you are interested in stories about women's struggles and resilience, then make sure you check it out. A word of caution: the movie deals with heavy themes and may not be suitable for all audiences. Highly recommended.