Presents

SHAYDA

Inspired by a true life experience

EXCLUSIVE LOS ANGELES PREMIERE

In person: Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Noora Niasari

Q&A moderated by actress Sara Seyed

Tuesday, February 13 - 7pm

SOLD OUT

A Film By NOORA NIASARI
From Executive Producer CATE BLANCHETT
And The Star of “HOLY SPIDER” ZAR AMIR EBRAHIMI

Lumiere Cinema at the Music Hall
9036 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90211

“A POWERFUL DIRECTORIAL DEBUT”
Variety

SHAYDA, a brave Iranian mother, finds refuge in an Australian women’s shelter with her six-year-old daughter. Over the Iranian New Year, they take solace in Nowruz rituals and new beginnings, but when her estranged husband re-enters their lives, Shayda’s path to freedom is jeopardized.

About NOORA NIASARI (Writer, Director, Producer)

Noora Niasari is a Tehran-born, Australia raised Writer/Director/Producer and Co-Founder of Parandeh Pictures. A graduate of architecture and cinema, her debut feature film Shayda - starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Cannes Best Actress Winner for Holy Spider) and executive produced by Cate Blanchett - premiered in the World Dramatic Competition of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award. Shayda was in the Official Selection of the 48th Toronto International Film Festival, 76th Locarno Film Festival, 28th Busan International Film Festival, 67th BFI London Film Festival, 37th AFI Fest, 71st Melbourne International Film Festival, Young Talent Award recipient at the 31st Filmfest Hamburg and winner of CinefestOZ, Australia’s richest film prize. Shayda was Australia’s official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, and following her win for Best Direction in a Feature Film at the 2023 Australian Directors’ Guild (ADG) Awards, Noora was nominated for the Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film at the 76th Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards. Shayda will be released theatrically in the USA by Sony Picture Classics from March 1st, 2024.

About ZAR AMIR EBRAHIMI (Actress, "Shayda")

Zar Amir Ebrahimi is an Iranian-French actress, producer and director. She rose to international prominence for her performance in the crime thriller HOLY SPIDER (2022), Denmark’s submission for the Academy Awards. She won the Cannes Film Festival award for best actress, Robert Award and Seville Film Festival Award for best actress. She got also nominated for European Film Awards, LOLA (German Film Awards) and Bodil Awards (Danish Film Critics Awards Association) for her performance in HOLY SPIDER.

Born in Tehran, Iran, actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi, graduated Azad University of Tehran, majoring in dramatic arts. She first directed a short film named KHAT (2000), produced by the Iranian Youth Cinema Society. Her career took off acting in the feature film WAITING (2001) by Mohammed Nourizad and gained national attention with series such as HELP ME (2004) and NARGESS (2006). In 2008, she moved to Paris and continued her acting career by appearing both on stage and in front of the camera. Her film TEHRAN TABOO directed by Ali Soozandeh premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017 and in 2018 she won Best Actress at the Nice International Film Festival for her performance in BRIDE PRICE VS DEMOCRACY directed by Reza Rahimi. Her film TIDE directed by Manon Coubia premiered in 2019 Locarno Film Festival and the film TOMORROW WE ARE FREE directed by Hossein Pourseifi screened at the Talinn Black Nights Film Festival and Filmfest Hamburg, among others. She also starred in THE WORST ENEMY by Mehran Tamadon and SEVEN WINTERS IN TEHRAN by Steffi Niederzoll that had their world premiere at the 2023 Berlinale Film Festival.

In France, LES SURVIVANTS (White Paradise), a contemporary western directed by Guillaume Renusson, was released in cinemas in January 2023. Zar also stars in “READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN” (2023) directed by Eran Riklis, which is now in post-production. She is currently co-directing a political-thriller film with working title of TATAMI with Guy Nattiv (2019 Academy Award winner) in which she stars too. Zar founded ALAMBIC Production in Paris in 2019 and continues producing movies. She also participates in movie projects as a casting director, including HOLY SPIDER (Ali Abbasi), OPPONENT (Milad Alami) and Noora Niasari’s upcoming second feature RAYA. As a result of using her film projects and voice to bravely demand change for women in Iran, Zar was selected for BBC 100 Women 2022, a prestigious list of inspiring and influential women from around the world. Always looking to champion filmmakers around the world, Zar presided over the jury of the 2023 Gothenburg Film Festival which is the largest film festival in the Nordic countries and she is one of the guest jury members of 2023 ANDAM fashion awards, alongside Gigi Hadid and Pat Cleveland.