‘It’s an Australian film, but it’s a very outward-looking film’: Vincent Sheehan on bringing Noora Niasari’s ‘Shayda’ to screen

Producer Vincent Sheehan was having a busy day in the office back in 2017 when he was due to meet with an emerging filmmaker, Noora Niasari.

With pressing deadlines, he had hoped he might to try to reschedule, but Niasari had come up to Sydney from Melbourne in order to meet him. He reasoned they would talk for 20 minutes, and then he could get back to work.

Yet more than an hour later after meeting, he and Niasari were still talking.

In that initial conversation, Niasari didn’t so much pitch the film ...