An Iranian woman living in Australia, Shayda finds refuge in a women’s shelter with her frightened six-year-old daughter, Mona. Having fled her husband, Hossein, and filed for divorce, Shayda struggles to maintain normalcy for Mona. Buoyed by the approach of Nowruz (Persian New Year), she tries to forge a fresh start with new and unfettered freedoms. But when a judge grants Hossein visitation rights, he reenters their life, renewing Shayda’s fear that he’ll attempt to take Mona back to Iran. Shayda is a moving human drama about a mother and her young daughter struggling to survive in harsh reality. It is directed by Iranian-Australian filmmaker, Noora Niasari. Shayda is her first feature debut and premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.