Whose side are you on?

LOGLINE

In a household plagued by suspicion and distrust, a 15-year-old budding fashion designer finds solace in her creative pursuits. Torn between her mother’s fears of betrayal and her father’s elusive behavior, she channels her turmoil into a dress that reveals her emotional scars.

SYNOPSIS

Fifteen-year-old Nora, a budding fashion designer, finds herself trapped in a house thick with suspicion after her mother loses her sight. Blinded and paranoid, her mother becomes convinced that Nora’s father is having an affair with her nurse—and enlists Nora as her unwilling spy. Torn between fear, loyalty, and a growing fascination with the nurse herself, Nora’s world becomes a tangle of secrecy and desire. As trust collapses and the family unravels, she channels her confusion into creation, transforming her pain into art. On her birthday, Nora steps out wearing a dress of her own design—a bold act of self-expression that exposes the fractures in her family and marks her awakening into self-awareness.

Director’s Note:

Nora grew from my own experience of living in a house where suspicion lingered in every corner, leaving me in a constant state of limbo.

The film explores the quiet trauma of a child forced into her parents’ conflicts — an unwilling confidante carrying secrets she should never know, and grappling with the fear that nothing around her can be trusted. At its core, the story is about ambiguity. In my own life, I never discovered the full truth; Nora finds no answers either. This is not a story about uncovering an affair — it’s about living with uncertainty, and the question becomes: when the truth cannot be spoken, how do we express what we feel?

For Nora, expression comes through creation. Clothing becomes her language — the most instinctive and intimate way to turn internal chaos into a visible statement. The dress she designs embodies her turmoil, her rebellion, and her self-discovery.

In the end, Nora transforms her pain into art, and I have transformed mine into this film.

Director’s Bio:

Siavash Ameli is an independent Iranian filmmaker and visual artist born in 1999. His work is deeply intertwined with cinema itself as a medium. Drawing from personal experiences, Ameli explores the contemporary Iranian youth experience, focusing on themes of uncertainty and existential limbo. His debut short film, “Nora,” exemplifies this personal approach and has recently begun its festival circuit. He is currently developing several new projects that continue his exploration of the cinematic form.

CAST

for more information please contact me at Hello@siavashameli.ir