Australia has selected Shayda, from Iranian-Australian debut writer and director Noora Niasari, as its submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar race.
The drama, which counts Cate Blanchett among its executive producers and was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics for North America among other markets, world premiered at Sundance in January where it won the World Cinema Audience Award.
It went on to open the Melbourne International Film Festival and was the closing-night screening at Locarno. It is next set for TIFF and will be released in Oz on October 5 via Madman.
The story follows a young Iranian mother and her six-year-old daughter who find refuge in an Australian women’s shelter during the two weeks of Iranian New Year (Nowruz) which is celebrated as a time of renewal and rebirth.
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