Selected as Australia’s official shortlist for the most recent Academy Awards, the closing film of the 77th Locarno Film Festival and the winner of numerous awards including the 2023 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and the Australian Film Critics Circle Award, Shada is coming to UK cinemas with a rich pedigree.
Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noura Niasari’s impressive debut draws on her own experiences to present a narratively compelling and poetic portrayal of an invincible woman’s free spirit, determination and empathy.
The highlight is the moving performance of current Iranian top actress Zahr Amir Ebrahimi, who won the Best Actress award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in Holy Spider.
Saar skillfully portrays the vulnerability, inner conflict and brilliant spirit of an Iranian woman who courageously fights for her right to divorce her husband, retain custody of her daughter, raise her as an independent woman and wear the clothes she likes.
When pressed to find out more about the truth behind Shayda, Noora admitted that the question arises often, perhaps due to the home video footage at the end of the film.
“Living in a women’s shelter with my mother when I was five was a formative experience for me. It was the first time I felt safe in the world.”
“And the woman who was the model for Joyce, the shelter host, was my mother’s first friend in Australia. She’s still like a godmother to me, 25 years later. That experience was very meaningful in shaping us.”
A few years after graduating from film school, when Noora began thinking about her first feature film, she had already written a few screenplays, and while none of them were projects she wanted to take on, she thought this story had the heartwarming potential to reach audiences around the world.
“It was a difficult decision because I couldn’t have done it without my mother,” Noora recalls.
“At first my mother was worried she wouldn’t be able to go back to Iran because she might be persecuted – of course it’s a big deal to have your life shown on screen – but soon she became incredibly excited.
“She actually pulled out a package I’d never seen before, full of photographs, legal documents, letters, etc. It was a treasure trove of those days.”
On top of that, Noora asked her mother to write her memoir, which took about six months to put ten years of her life on paper. By the end of those six months, she had all the materials and flew to Spain to write the first draft. She needed that distance to really make sense of it all.
“My memories of that time were so fragmented that I asked her to write them down,” Noora explains.
“Partly because I was five years old and partly because it was a traumatic and difficult time. I’ve had a lot of therapy, so when you go through something that traumatic, your memories become a little hazy.
“My mom is really proud of the film now, and so am I. Sharing our story, even if it’s a fictional version, with an audience has been an incredibly healing and cathartic experience.”
Before casting Zahr Amir Ebrahimi, the production team searched for Shayda across Australia but were unable to find her.
Noura then began her international search and shared the script with French-Iranian actress Shifteh Farahani, who suggested “Zaar,” for which she is very grateful.
“As soon as I saw Zare’s first audition tape, I knew she was Shayda. She brought such strength and vulnerability to her screen presence, which was exactly what I was looking for.”
“Additionally, her life experiences, hardships, trauma and time in exile overlapped with those of the character, allowing her to bring a lot of herself to the role.
“I knew about Zahr before ‘Holy Spider’ came out and before she won Best Actress at Cannes. She was fairly well-known among Iranians and had done some independent films, but I had never seen any of them.
“I studied her work before auditioning and was amazed at her talent and the breadth of her work. I think she’s a superstar and destined for even greater things.”
As for the film’s impact on audiences, Noura believes it hits the heart of the growing feminist movement: Every time she screens it, people relate to the film, she says, because domestic violence is something that thrives in silence and is deeply shameful.
“In Melbourne, there was an Indian woman who had split up with her husband a few weeks earlier and after watching the film she was able to make up her mind. In Korea, the majority of the audience were young Korean women.”
“Seeing it on the big screen like this is an uplifting, cathartic experience for victims. Even people who have never experienced domestic violence have told me they felt the urge to go home and call their mom because this film is a love letter to mothers and daughters. This film makes people want to reconnect with their mothers and daughters, or just hug them a little longer.”
Winning the Audience Award at Sundance confirmed to Noora that the film was truly universal, beyond just her mother and her story.
Countless people approached her in tears, including middle-aged men who had experienced domestic violence as children and struggled to put it into words.
Addressing the theme of cultural context, Noura says the film is about balance and dance between light and dark, and that for Iranians in particular, the film acts as a kind of therapy.
“You know, in dark times and times of confusion, we always go back to that, and especially for me growing up with my mom, that was something I always turned to.
“Despite all the difficulties women face in such situations, I know how important it is to have moments of rest, joy, connection and warmth.
“That’s why it was so important to have these scenes in the film. I also think it shows that there is hope in the film, that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and that it’s really about survival.”
Noura never wanted the film to wallow in victimhood, and she believes that the dance scene is what really elevates the film and gets it where it was intended to go.
Considering it’s a debut film, Shada has been a fairly successful effort, with the backing of big-name producers like Cate Blanchett.
“Kate and her company Dirty Films have been incredible supporters and I’m so grateful to them,” Noora says.
“They came on board just before we raised the funding. My producer, Vincent Sheehan, had worked with Kate on a film called Little Fish and gave her the script. She read it, met with me over Zoom and said that as a woman she related to the script and saw its universal appeal.
“She was instrumental in helping the film find an international audience, which is especially meaningful for a first-time director.”
“Having someone like Kate as an executive producer gives the film credibility. She’s an incredible artist with impeccable taste and I’m incredibly grateful for her support,” concludes Noora.
Mariana Hristova is a freelance film critic, cultural journalist and programmer. She has written for national and international media and curated programmes for Filmoteca De Catalunya, Arxiu Xcèntric, goEast Wiesbaden, etc. Her areas of expertise include European marginal cinema, archival cinema and amateur cinema.
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