Nature Morte is an experimental feature film by Mamali Shafahi, unfolding in two episodes: Daddy Sperm and Immortal. Created through an intimate collaboration with his parents, the film draws them into a queer, otherworldly narrative—casting them as reborn avatars in a universe that contrasts starkly with their quiet suburban life in Tehran. Referencing the aesthetics and themes of Still Life (1974) by Sohrab Shahid-Saless, Nature Morte blurs the lines between autobiography, mythology, and speculative fiction.

Shafahi’s cross-disciplinary practice frequently engages with technology and generational legacy, themes that resonate deeply in this project. His body of work spans performance, video installation, and filmmaking, and has been exhibited across Paris, Tehran, Amsterdam and Dubai. Nature Morte (2014–2017), produced during his time as artistic director of the Pejman Foundation, marked a major milestone in his ongoing inquiry into time, identity and digital culture.

I worked as the sound editor and mixer for this film, crafting a rich and immersive soundscape. The audio work drew on generative and experimental techniques, including extreme time-stretching, granular synthesis, and manipulated environmental recordings to produce textured layers of noise and ambience. These were carefully mixed with more traditional documentary-style dialogue editing and post-production approaches to support the hybrid tone of the film. The resulting soundtrack grounds the viewer in a world that feels simultaneously familiar and uncanny—bridging the personal and the mythological, the mundane and the surreal.