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| Director Noora Niasari, Australia. Photo by José Alberto Hermosillo. Copyright © Festival in LA, 2023 |
The film strongly suggests Shayda’s darkest moments, including the reference to when she was beaten, raped, and sent out onto the street with her six-year-old daughter, Mona. To overcome adversity, she seeks refuge at a women’s shelter, where she finds counseling, legal aid, and friends in similar circumstances who teach her to empower herself to confront her husband and his family.
Over the Persian New Year celebration, Shayda would like to take comfort in the Nowruz rituals that symbolize a new beginning. But real life takes work. Escaping domestic violence and her country’s totalitarian ideology, Shayda needs to recapture her cultural identity by staying connected to her Iranian food, poetry, music, dances, traditions, and, above all, the Iranian people in Australia.
In this stressful cat-and-mouse drama, Shayda must be as far as possible from her abusive husband, Hossain (Osamah Sami), but the law does not grant her wishes. The patriarchal Australian system, unaware that the father wants to take his woman and daughter back to Iran to preserve his misogynist dominance, rules in favor of the father’s visitations.
The collaborative effort took six years to come to fruition. Noora’s mother was not only her inspiration but also stood by her side during production. Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett, who served as an executive producer, was an essential part of the project, Niasari said at a Q&A after the screening of her film during the AFI Fest in Los Angeles in 2023.
The Persian-born director Noora Niasari, who grew up in Australia, returned to Iran at 19 to learn more about her roots, cultural identity, and other elements that would enrich the film. The symbolism of Shayda’s clothes, shapes, and colors represents the emotional journey and transformation, visually turning Shayda’s silhouette into a butterfly.
In terms of place and time, the film powerfully analyzes how immigrants lived in Australia during the 1990s.
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| Actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Photo by José Alberto Hermosillo. Copyright © Festival in LA, 2023 |
Starring Tehran-born actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi (“Holy Spider” & “Tatami”) is as remarkable as Shayda. She displays a wide range of emotions, portraying a mother who is aware of her daughter’s well-being yet also needs empathy for herself.
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| Actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi & Selina Zahednia, Photo courtesy of Sony Classics, 2023 |
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| Director Nooria Niasari & film critic José Alberto Hermosillo. Copyright © Festival in LA, 2023 |
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| Actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi & film critic José Alberto Hermosillo. Copyright © Festival in LA, 2023 |
Invisible Life: Melodrama is Not Dead Thanks to Brazilian Cinema
Laura Pausini: Pleased to Meet You; Recounts the Life of the MegastarIF YOU ARE READING FROM A MOBILE DEVICE, CLICK: view web version FOR OTHER COOL FEATURES SUCH AS TRANSLATE POWERED BY GOOGLE, AN INTERACTIVE FILM FESTIVAL CALENDAR, AND MORE AWESOME ARTICLES.
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