On her 16th birthday, singer-songwriter Melody awakens with a zipper sewn to her mouth. A story about the voiceless, who must fight to be heard.
Practical Effects
That zipper prosthetic will haunt your dreams
Direction
Safai packs a feature's worth of dread into 16 minutes
Writing
Folklore metaphor that actually lands
Director
Ava Maria Safai
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Zahhak is a figure from the Shahnameh, a tyrant with snakes growing from his shoulders—here literally the father who devours his daughter's voice.
Safai made this as her USC thesis film; the 16-minute runtime mirrors Melody's age, each minute a year of accumulated silence.
CA
