Film review: ‘SHAYDA’ by Nick Gardener from ‘Built For Speed’

Shayda, which was the opening night feature at this year’s MIFF, is a semi-autobiographical film based on the childhood experiences of its writer/ director Noora Niasari.

Set in 1995 in the Dandenong area, the film depicts an Iranian-Australian woman, Shayda’s (Zar Amir Ebrahimi) escape from abuse at the hands of her husband, Hossein (Osamah Sami).  Having taken her daughter Mona (Selina Zahednia) to a safe house, Shayda faces having to construct a new life with Mona while still dealing with the trauma of her past experiences and the ongoing issue of a husband who wants custody rights.  Separated from most of her family who are in Iran, Shayda also had to cope with the additional isolation of being condemned by others in the community for leaving her husband.

At the heart of this film is the life-affirming relationship between Shayda and her daughter Mona.  Through remarkably convincing and layered performances from both Zar Amir Ebrahimi and young Selina Zahednia, the bond is both uplifting and heartbreaking. Shayda attempts to bring fun and culture into her daughter’s life but with the looming threat of her vengeful husband, it’s almost impossible to shield her from ugly realities.  Ebrahimi remarkably conveys the stress of trying to protect and nurture her daughter in these circumstances.  With much of the grief and distress for a life lost reflected in a little girl’s face, this is quite a gruelling film but the drama and pathos never feel forced.

Some strong supporting performances add even more weight to this story. Leah Purcell is typically excellent as the compassionate but no-nonsense social worker, Joyce who runs the safe house.  If we hadn’t seen her in other movies we’d swear she was a real social worker.  Osamah Sami is also unnervingly effective as the husband, Hossein.  He’s not just a thug but a creepily manipulative character who uses coercion tactics to elicit information and compliance from Mona.

While extremely worthy, well-acted and emotionally moving, the film at times suffers from the limitations of a low budget. It sometimes looks underlit and has a gauzy surface which might be an attempt to convey that it’s set in the past but dulls its visual impact.

A few aesthetic issues aside, Shayda is an impressive piece of work and one of the more important and confronting Australian films of recent times.

Nick’s rating: ****

Genre: Drama.

Classification: M.

Director(s): Noora Niasari.

Release date: 5th Oct 2023.

Running time: 117 mins.

Reviewer: Nick Gardener can be heard on “Built For Speed” every Friday night from 8-10pm on 88.3 Southern FM.

 

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