Born in Tangiers in 1967, Selfati studied Art at the School of Fine Arts in Tetuan, Morocco between 1989 and 1991.
Selfati continued his studies in Fine Arts at the Faculty of Fine Arts in UCM in Madrid, Spain in 1994, where he took an extended course in engraving techniques with the well know Spanish artist, Gerardo Aparicio.
He did a Silkscreen Course at the College of Graphic Arts in Madrid, Spain in 1993. Selfati was invited to an art workshop organized by the Complutense University of Madrid in El Escorial in 1993 and given by the Moroccan born Spanish artist José Hernández. They would remain firm friends and colleagues until José sad passing in 2013.