Ascending the Persian Mothership

“Ascending the Persian Mothership” is an open-ended, experimental sci-fi sandbox film first conceived in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown. The project was commissioned that same year by HOME in Manchester, UK, and represents a collaboration between painter Parham Ghalamdar and sound engineer Kaveh Soory. A prototype version was publicly screened in late January 2022, laying the foundation for an expansive, iterative creative process. Over the following five years, the project evolved through multiple versions, each shaped by its deliberately fluid, sandbox ethos. While not traditionally completed, the latest major version (v2.0) was exported in January 2025. It is considered finalized only because the AI model used to generate new sequences was deliberately destroyed, an intentional act to prevent further expansion and to seal the work in its current state.

Blending tradition with speculative futurism, the film trains an AI model on over 300 pages of antique Persian miniature manuscripts alongside contemporary spaceship concept art. The result is a wholly original, abstract visual language that bridges historical aesthetics with speculative, otherworldly imagery.

The film’s narrative unfolds as a visual metamorphosis: vast, near-empty Persian landscapes dissolve into alien sci-fi realms, tracing an imaginative, time-bending journey through space and myth. While production paused and resumed multiple times in keeping with its sandbox framework, the AI engine remains active, continually generating new sequences. In this way, Ascending the Persian Mothership resists closure. It is not a fixed story, but a perpetually evolving artwork that embraces incompleteness as a condition of ongoing reinvention.

Sonic Statement:

The sonic landscape of Ascending the Persian Mothership is meticulously crafted to parallel its visual journey from the traditional to the otherworldly. The film begins with an auditory homage to Persian miniatures, integrating ambient sounds such as birdsong, flowing water, and gentle winds. These elements evoke the natural serenity found in classical Persian art, interwoven with minimalist piano melodies and subtle drum patterns to establish a contemplative, grounded atmosphere.

As the narrative progresses, a pivotal auditory transformation unfolds. The initial harmonious soundscape deteriorates into a complex tapestry of electronic distortions and synthetic textures, marking the film’s shift into a speculative sci-fi realm. This transformation is intensified by haunting, non-verbal vocalizations reminiscent of the Divs (دیو) from Persian mythology. Their demonic laughter deepens the mythic resonance of the alien auditory environment.

Throughout the film, the soundtrack remains committed to abstraction. It avoids spoken language or lyrics, allowing the pure materiality of sound to guide the viewer’s experience.