Sundance Institute

Institute History

2023 Sundance Film Festival

Description

An Iranian woman living in Australia, Shayda finds refuge in a women’s shelter with her frightened 6-year-old daughter, Mona. Having fled her husband, Hossein, and filed for divorce, Shayda struggles to maintain normalcy for Mona. Buoyed by the approach of Nowruz (Persian New Year), she tries to forge a fresh start with new and unfettered freedoms. But when a judge grants Hossein visitation rights, he reenters their life, stoking Shayda’s fear that he’ll attempt to take Mona back to Iran.

Drawn from personal experiences, Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari’s powerful debut feature is a beautifully crafted, poetic vérité portrayal of courage and compassion, anchored by a heart-rending performance by Zar Amir Ebrahimi (2022 Cannes’ best actress award winner for Holy Spider). Ebrahimi captures the vulnerability and confliction, but also the radiant soul of an Iranian woman who boldly reclaims her human rights: to divorce her husband, keep her child, and dress as she chooses.

Audience Advisory: This film contains strobe effects and may potentially trigger seizures. Viewer discretion is advised.

Screening Details

Section: World Cinema Dramatic Competition
Film Type: International Narrative Feature
Country: Australia
Language: English and Persian
Run Time: 117 min.

Sundance Film Festival Awards

Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic

Credits

Director of Photography
- Sherwin Akbarzadeh
Actor
Executive Producer
Costume Designer
- Zohie Castellano
Screenwriter
- Noora Niasari
Producer
- Noora Niasari
- Vincent Sheehan
Director
- Noora Niasari
Editor
- Elika Rezaee
Sound Designer
- Livia Ruzic
Production Designer
- Josephine Wagstaff

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