Michelle Macklem

sound designer & mixer

Podcasts & radio

Film

Sound Art

Producer work

Signal and Noise

What are the sounds of Guantánamo Bay Detention Center? In 2015, poet Jordan Scott set out to record the ambient sounds of the prison as a means of bypassing its strict media censorship rules. Today, former detainee, Mansoor Adayfi, recalls how sound shaped his experiences there— both of torture and of hope. The year of the 20th anniversary of the prison, Scott’s field recordings and Adayfi’s memories come together to create a visceral new landscape of this notoriously secret place.

Dir. Jess Shane and Katie Mathews
Produced in collaboration with Mansoor Adayfi
Sound design by Kaija Siirala
Mixing by Michelle Macklem

Screening History

Prismatic Ground Film Festival, Premiere, May 2022, New York City, NY
Mimesis Film Festival, August 2022, Boulder, CO
Third Horizon Film Festival, June 2022, Miami, FL
Nashville Film Festival, September 2022, Nashville, TN
Hot Springs Film Festival, October 2022, Albuquerque, NM
Antimatter Film Festival, October 2022, Victoria, BC
New Orleans Film Festival, November 2022, New Orleans, Experimental Short: Special Jury Recognition
Future of Film Showcase, May 2023, TorontoSight/Geist: Policing Reality - Screening at The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation / The 8th Floor
Sound of Fire - Exhibition at VisArts, Rockville, MD; Curated by Gabrielle Tillenburg

role:
re-recording mixer