Tehran born, Australian raised, Noora is a Writer/Director and Co-Founder of Parandeh Pictures.
Her debut feature film, SHAYDA starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Executive Produced by Cate Blanchett – premiered in the World Dramatic Competition of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival where it won the coveted Audience Award and was sold to Sony Pictures Classics.
Noora initially studied architecture, but found herself irrevocably drawn to the power of cinema. She travelled the world; making documentaries in Wales, Lebanon, and Chile where she made CASA ANTÚNEZ, a film exploring the meaning of ‘home’ in the aftermath of an earthquake, nominated for the New Talent Award at the 2017 Sheffield Doc/Fest.
During her Masters of Film & Television at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), Noora’s focus shifted inwards, to stories of her Iranian diaspora community. Her graduate short, THE PHOENIX (Simorgh) starred the acclaimed pre-revolution Iranian actor Manouchehr Farid in his first acting role in 35 years. Simorgh won the VCA New Voice Award, nominated for an Australian Director’s Guild Award and selected for the 2015 MIFF Accelerator Lab.
In 2015, Noora travelled to Spain where she was mentored by Iranian Master filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, who remains an inspiration. In his workshop, she developed the idea for her Screen Australia funded short film WATERFALL, a cross-cultural, coming of age drama that competed at festivals worldwide including MIFF, Leiden & Rencontres Internationales du Cinéma des Antipodes.
In 2020, Noora released her short film, TÂM a 12-minute one-shot thriller starring Jillian Nguyen, described by FILMINK magazine as “intense, visceral and thought-provoking.” TÂM competed at the 2020 CinefestOZ Film Festival, MIFF 68 ½, and Oscar Qualifying Flickerfest and St Kilda Film Festivals.
Noora is interested in collaborations that foster authenticity, inclusivity, and nuanced perspectives. She is represented by United Talent Agency (UTA).
NOORA NIASARI 
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