An unfinished and partially abandoned video-poem assembled from digitised VHS tapes recorded in Iran in 1998, PHOSPHENIC_SUN [PLAY ▸] moves through deteriorating home-video footage, AI-generated phosphenes and reflections on childhood sunlight, memory and magnetic media.
As the tapes are restored and colour-corrected, memory and hallucination begin to blur. Damaged images, compression artefacts and synthetic light form an unstable emotional archive: an attempt to recover the warmth of a forgotten noon. Made during a period of deep depression in winter 2025, the film remains unresolved, suspended between restoration and disappearance.
Film details
Director: Parham Ghalamdar
Format: Experimental short / video-poem
Runtime: 4 minutes 30 seconds
Language: English and Persian
Countries of origin and filming: Iran and the United Kingdom
Image: Digital, colour, 16:9
Screening
DV8 Obsolete Media Showcase, The Community Cinema at The Pyramid at Anderston, Glasgow
17 October 2026
UK premiere; Official Selection
The two-night showcase brought together short films made on alternative and obsolete media, including work with broken video cameras and Xbox Kinects.
FilmFreeway: https://filmfreeway.com/PHOSPHENICSUNPLAY
Event details: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dv8-obsolete-media-showcase-tickets-2000637644049
The film is not publicly available. To request a private preview, please get in touch by email.
