Noora Niasari – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK March 1, 2024: SHAYDA

February 26, 2024February 28, 2024 Jennifer Merin australian films, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, jennifer merin, Leah Purcell, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, nikki fowler, Noora Niasari, Osamah Sami, Pam Grady, sandie angulo chen, Selina Zahednia, sherin nicole, Zar Amir Ebrahimi

Trauma and abuse fuel a Persian woman’s determination to change her life — and that of her young daughter — in writer/director Noora Niasari’s compelling feature drama debut Shayda. Thanks to Niasari’s sensitive script and empathetic direction and star Zar Amir Ebrahimi’s excellent performance, the result is a film that’s likely to leave viewers feeling both rage at misogynistic traditions and hope for the possibility of change, transformation, and renewal.

Reviews

SHAYDA – Review by Loren King

February 19, 2024February 24, 2024 Loren King australian films, Leah Purcell, loren king, motw, Noora Niasari, Osamah Sami, Zar Amir Ebrahimi

In her compelling feature debut about a young mother’s flight from domestic abuse, Australian-Iranian writer/director Noora Niasari creates tension that simmers from the first scene to the last frame. Zar Amir Ebrahimi is superb as the title character, a Iranian woman living in Australia in 1995 with her young daughter Mona (Selina Zahednia). Shayda is attempting to leave her abusive husband, Hossein (Osamah Sami), a medical student who intends to move back to Iran with Shadya and Mona, despite Shayda’s steps to obtain a divorce. Fearful that the angry Hossein will abduct Mona, Shadya and her daughter take refuge in a women’s shelter run by the non-nonsense but compassionate Joyce (the excellent Leah Purcell.

Festivals

Middleburg Film Festival 2023 Wrap – Nell Minow reports

October 30, 2023October 30, 2023 Nell Minow film festivals, Michael Giacchino, Middleburg Film Festival, Noora Niasari, sheila johnson, Ukrainian filmmakers

The highlight of the Middleburg Film Festival every year is not a movie. It is the annual tribute to a film composer, with the Loudoun Symphony’s full orchestra playing the music. Festival founder Sheila Johnson was a music major in college, and she always reminds attendees of the vital importance of a score in guiding the emotions of the film audience. This year’s awardee, Michael Giacchino, attracted such an enthusiastic crowd that the staff of the festival had to rush to bring in several more rows of chairs.

Festivals

Women @ 71st Melbourne International Film Fest – Alexandra Heller-Nicholas reports

August 14, 2023August 22, 2023 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Alice Rohrwacher, Catherine Breillat, Jean Rouch, Jessica hausner, Lila Avilés, Melbourne IFF 2023, Melbourne International Film Fest, Molly Manning Walker, Noora Niasari, Sue Brooks, Zar Amir Ebrahimi

In 2023, MIFF, well, felt like MIFF again. Mask sightings were rare, the festival’s long queues wound snake-like around city blocks once again, and if not for the unseasonably warm weather it felt like business as usual. With in-cinema programming running from 3 to 20 August and MIFF Play streaming from 18 to 27 August, MIFF is not just a lengthy festival when compared with other international fests, but also one of the longest running; founded in 1952, its first edition was a year after the first Berlin Film Fest, and it predates both TIFF and Sundance by decades. TIFF is perhaps the most useful point of reference when it comes to trying to capture the tone of MIFF for those in the Northern Hemisphere; while both have a significant industry portion (amongst other things, MIFF hosts the annual 37ºSouth Market), both festivals are marked by a kind of proud, public facing euphoria and share a similar spirit of accessibility when it comes to welcoming audiences from all walks of life, not just industry players going through the motions.

Festivals Reviews

SHAYDA (Melbourne IFF 2023) – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

August 14, 2023August 14, 2023 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Melbourne International FF 2023, Noora Niasari, Shayda, Zar Amir Ebrahimi

On the back of her extraordinary performance in Ali Abbasi’s Holy Spider that saw her win the Best Actress Award at Cannes in 2022, Zar Amir-Ebrahimi tackles a very different character in Noora Niasari’s devastating yet moving Shayda. Set in suburban Australia, the film’s title character Amir-Ebrahimi packs a powerful performance as an emotionally shell-shocked Iranian woman who finds herself suddenly alone with her six-year-old daughter Mona hiding out in a women’s shelter as she attempts to divorce her abusive husband,