All the Empty Rooms
Documentary Short | Premiered at Telluride Film Festival 2025 | Acquired by Netflix
Directed by: Joshua Seftel
Produced by: Steve Hartman & Lou Bopp
Sound Design by: Peter Albrechtsen
Foley Artist: Heikki Kossi
Sound Effects Editing by: Thomas Perez-Pape & Mikkel Nielsen
All the Empty Rooms is a haunting and poetic documentary exploring the quiet spaces left behind after tragedy — the bedrooms of children lost to school shootings in America. Directed by Joshua Seftel, the film follows CBS correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they capture the emotional resonance of these untouched rooms — places where time stands still, yet memories remain alive.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2025 (Short Cuts Programme) to wide critical acclaim and was subsequently acquired by Netflix for global distribution.
As Sound Effects Editor, I worked under the direction of the amazing Peter Albrechtsen, who served as the film’s Sound Designer. Together, we crafted a sonic universe where absence and presence coexist — where every sound, no matter how small, carries emotional meaning. My focus was on giving significance to the tiniest details: the rustle of fabric, the air shifting through a window, the weight of silence itself.
I also collaborated closely with renowned foley artist Heikki Kossi, spotting and editing foley and preparing the sessions for the final mix. Our goal was to bring delicate realism and emotional intimacy to each moment — to let the soundscape breathe and speak the unspoken.
The result is an evocative auditory experience where silence becomes the loudest voice — a sound world that holds both grief and grace in every fragile detail.
