Shayda

For her heartfelt Australian drama, debutant writer/director Noora Niasari draws on her own experience.

The fact that Shayda registers so strongly as a heartfelt film ceases to be in any way surprising when you learn that the debutant writer/director Noora Niasari was here drawing on her own experience. Although born in Tehran, she was raised in Australia and it was there in Brisbane in the mid-1990s that she spent time in a women's refuge with her mother. Shayda is presented as a work of fiction but it derives from that time and that situation. The on-screen mother is the titular Shayda played by Zar Amir Ebrahimi and her six-year-old daughter, Mona (Selina Zahednia), is the figure based on Niasari herself.

What Niasari movingly gives us is a story that combines two themes. Its central concern stems from the situation in which Shayda finds herself having broken away from her abusive husband Hossein (Osamah Sami). His behaviour has been such that she would be keen to institute full divorce proceedings but, knowing that any such step would antagonise him, she has at this stage merely applied to the courts for custody of Mona. Her fear is that, if provoked further, Hossein might seize the child and take her back to Iran since after graduating he hopes to become a doctor there.

Taking things a step at a time, Shayda has found a women's shelter run by Joyce (Leah Purcell) where she can live with Mona in safety although the court hearing has resulted in Hossein being permitted to have one day a week to take Mona out on his own. The refuge offers companionship as well as security since there are other inmates whose situation is quite similar to that of Shayda. But, while Hossein puts on his friendly face and seeks to appear a good father, Shayda is increasingly in fear that he will suddenly abduct Mona. Shayda’s mother, who is still in her own country, is unsupportive of her daughter divorcing (she is missing seeing her and Mona and would like to see them back in Iran). However, Shayda finds support from a more liberated friend, Elly (Rina Mousavi), of whom Hossein has always disapproved. As it happens Elly has a cousin, Farhad (Majean Aria), newly arrived from Canada and he and Shayda quickly establish a rapport. But inevitably when Hossein learns of this it provokes jealousy and ultimately violence.

Taken on its own, Shayda’s plight as an abused mother makes for a readily involving tale in which she emerges as a highly sympathetic figure. But in addition Niasari’s film also functions as a telling portrait of somebody whose situation makes it desirable to make a life in a country which is not their own. However, as everyone is aware, the events depicted occur in the weeks that lead up to Nowruz, the Persian New Year, and we can understand how in spite of everything Shayda finds within herself a certain yearning for her roots.

As a first feature Shayda is impressive aided by the excellent central performance from Zar Amir Ebrahimi who first came to our attention in 2022’s Holy Spider. The child actress Selina Zahednia also does well and Niasari’s screenplay is adroit enough to ensure that the deeply unsympathetic Hossein is a credibly conniving figure. Where the film is less surefooted is in getting the balance right between the naturalism that makes this a tale of everyday life and the heightened drama encouraged by the central situation. Back in 2016 another debut feature, Xavier Legrand’s French Film Custody, dealt with comparable subject matter in which a mother and her child were at risk from the abusive father. That film was one of the best of its year, perfectly judged in every respect. Compare that piece with Shayda and the difference is apparent. One feels that the almost documentary tone present here sometimes leads to the film underplaying the sense of tension required and that later Niasari allows the action to veer closer to melodrama than is ideal. There is also a coda that seems vague in its intent. But, while these aspects mean that Shayda is not without flaws, that is readily forgiven for this is a deeply sympathetic and worthwhile work. It feels utterly apt to learn at its close that Noora Niasari dedicates her film to “my mother and the brave women of Iran". Cate Blanchett was an executive producer on the film.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Cast: Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Selina Zahednia, Osamah Sami, Leah Purcell, Mojean Aria, Rina Mousavi, Eve Morey, Bev Killick, Lucinda Armstrong Hall, Luka Sero, Jerome Mayer, Nicole Gulasekharam.

Dir Noora Niasari, Pro Noora Niasari and Vincent Sheehan, Screenplay Noora Niasari, Ph Sherwin Akbarzadeh, Pro Des Josephine Wagstaff, Ed Elika Rezaee,  Costumes Zohie Castellano.

Dirty Films/HanWay Films/Screen Australia/The 51 Fund-Vertigo Releasing.
117 mins. Australia. 2023. US Rel: 1 December 2023. UK Rel: 2 August 2024. Cert. 15.