Noora Niasari’s 'Shayda' may soon get another chance to represent Australia on the world stage, after being submitted for the Best International Feature category at next year's Academy Awards.
When Tehran-born writer-director Noora Niasari told producer Vincent Sheehan about the time she spent living in a women's shelter during her childhood, on which her film 'Shayda' was to be based, he realised he was being told a "distinctly Australian" story, but one he had never seen on the screen before.