08 12 2022 - Media release Four Australian films selected for Sundance Film Festival 2023
Noora Niasari's Shayda
Four Australian feature films will screen at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival including writer/director Noora Niasari's debut Shayda which will open the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, and the world premiere for Run Rabbit Run from director Daina Reid. Talk to Me, directed by Danny and Michael Philippou (also known as RackaRacka) will make its international premiere and Robert Connolly's Blueback will have its US premiere at the festival which runs from 19 29 January 2023.
Sundance has a history of launching Australian works into the US market including You Won't Be Alone in 2022, Relic in 2020, 52 Tuesdays in 2014 and Animal Kingdom in 2010.
Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason said, This is an incredible slate of premieres and I'd like to congratulate the teams on their selection for this world-leading festival. To have two feature debuts is a real coup, with rising talent Noora Niasari's Shayda in competition, and RackaRacka who have built an exceptional fanbase online now reaching global audiences with their feature Talk to Me. It's also wonderful to see a range of stories representing Australia, from the stunning natural beauty celebrated in Blueback and the modern migrant experience showcased in Shayda, to the gripping supernatural tales in Talk to Me and Run Rabbit Run which will no doubt have audiences on the edge of their seats.
Writer/director Noora Niasari's debut feature Shayda is produced by Vincent Sheehan (The Hunter, Animal Kingdom) and stars Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Osamah Sami, Leah Purcell, Jillian Nguyen, Mojean Aria, Selina Zahednia and Rina Mousavi. It will make its world premiere as the Opening Night Film of the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.
Noora Niasari said, I am thrilled for my debut feature film, Shayda to be selected for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It is an honour for us to be one of the Opening Night films, to showcase our talented Iranian/Australian cast and crew on the world stage and to hold a spotlight on the brave women of Iran.
Also making its world premiere is Run Rabbit Run, written by award-winning author Hannah Kent, directed by Daina Reid and produced by Carver Films' Anna McLeish and Sarah Shaw. The film, which stars Sarah Snook (Succession), received development funding under Screen Australia's Gender Matters Brilliant Stories initiative in 2015.
Daina Reid said, I am so thrilled to see Run Rabbit Run premiering at Sundance. It has been an incredible journey making this film and working with such a massively talented writer in Hannah Kent and our amazing leading actors Sarah Snook, Lily LaTorre and Damon Herriman. Indeed all our cast, our outstanding crew and wonderful producers. It is so exciting to see their work showing at such a fantastic festival.
After a preview screening at Adelaide Film Festival this year, Danny and Michael Philippou's feature debut Talk To Me, produced by Causeway Films' Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton, will make its international premiere in the Midnight Section.
Danny and Michael Philippou said, We're so excited to be premiering Talk to Me at the Sundance Film Festival. It's surreal. Cannot process it. So happy!! We cannot thank everyone involved enough for all their amazing hard work and unbelievably kind support.
And after its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival 2022, Robert Connolly's drama Blueback based on the best-selling novel by Tim Winton, will make its US premiere in the Kids Program and screen as the Salt Lake City Opening Night Event. The film stars Mia Wasikowska, Radha Mitchell and Eric Bana as well as newcomers Ariel Donoghue and Ilsa Fogg.
Robert Connolly said, As one the most innovative and distinctive film festivals and champions of cinema in the world, we are delighted by the invitation to launch Blueback in the US at the Sundance Film Festival.
A history of Australian titles at Sundance is available here.
AUSTRALIAN PROJECTS AT SUNDANCE 2023: SHAYDA
World Premiere, International Competition
Origma 45
Writer/Director: Noora Niasari
Producers: Vincent Sheehan, Noora Niasari
Executive Producers: Cate Blanchett, Andrew Upton, Coco Francini
Australian Distributor: Madman Entertainment
International Sales: HanWay Films, UTA
Synopsis: Shayda, a brave Iranian mother, finds refuge in an Australian women's shelter with her 6-year-old daughter. Over Persian 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.
Production credit: Major production investment from Screen Australia in association with The 51 Fund and financed with support from VicScreen and the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) Premiere Fund.
Media contact: Anna Bohlin
RUN RABBIT RUN
World Premiere, Midnight Section
Carver Films
Director: Daina Reid
Writer: Hannah Kent
Producers: Sarah Shaw, Anna McLeish
Executive Producers: Nate Bolotin, Maxime Cottray, Deanne Weir, Olivia Humphrey, D.J. McPherson, Jack Christian, Daina Reid, Sarah Snook
Australian Distributor: Maslow Umbrella 387 Entertainment
International Sales: XYZ Films
Synopsis: As a fertility doctor, Sarah has a firm understanding of the cycle of life. However, when she is forced to make sense of the increasingly strange behaviour of her young daughter, Sarah must challenge her own beliefs and confront a ghost from her past.
Production credit: Major production investment from XYZ and Screen Australia, in association with Film Victoria, the South Australian Film Corporation and Soundfirm.
Media contact: Carver Films
TALK TO ME
International Premiere, Midnight Section
Causeway Films
Directors: Danny Philip
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
07/05/2026
At this year's Broadcast Asia, PlayBox Neo is set to unveil recent innovations across its PlayBox Neo Suite and integrated range of broadcast media solution...
07/05/2026
Strategic three-year partnership marks delivery phase of BFBS' next-generation media vision
Media organisation and military charity BFBS (British Forces Br...
07/05/2026
Amagi, the agentic industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, today announced the availability of its In-Content Ads offering v...
07/05/2026
Lightware Visual Engineering has developed Rack Taurus for rack-based environments such as education and corporate training spaces. It enables clean and simple ...
07/05/2026
Jigsaw24, the UK's leading media equipment supplier and systems integrator, will showcase its expanded end-to-end workflow capabilities at MPTS 2026, signal...
07/05/2026
Ease Live, an Evertz company, today announced that it has been granted a US Patent for its proprietary graphical overlay technology, the foundation for interact...
07/05/2026
Test & measurement innovator Leader Electronics of Europe will present an extensive range of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement solutions at...
08 12 2022 - Media release Four Australian films selected for Sundance Film Festival 2023 
