Ode to Sisyphus: A Short Film

Ode to Sisyphus was created as an artistic exploration of modern existence,  a world defined by repetition, productivity, and silent resignation. The project began as a contemplation on how the myth of Sisyphus reflects not only the futility of human labor but also the quiet dignity within it.

In today’s cities, cycles of work and rest have become invisible rituals: screens that glow at dawn, meetings that blur into dusk, and roads that lead nowhere but back to themselves. Through this short film, we aimed to translate that quiet absurdity into a poetic visual form.

The production embraced a minimalist aesthetic, using AI-generated imagery not as spectacle, but as metaphor. Revealing how technology, repetition, and the search for meaning intertwine in our daily rhythm.

Ode to Sisyphus is a quiet reflection on the absurd cycles that shape our daily lives. In every city, in every workplace, people repeat the same routines, traffic, screens, meetings, often without pause to question why. I saw in this repetition a modern echo of Sisyphean struggle, yet I did not want to retell the myth literally. Instead, I searched for the subtle cracks where a different perspective could enter: a pause, a breath, a particle of dust dancing in light.

For me, this film is not about breaking free from the cycle, but about shifting how we inhabit it. By combining minimalist visuals with AI-generated imagery, I wanted to create metaphors that are at once digital and timeless, symbols that resonate without overwhelming. Ode to Sisyphus is ultimately a letter to the viewer: a reminder that freedom does not always lie in escape, but in finding enough within the inevitable.

Midjourney Used to generate visual concepts that captured the minimalist and existential tone of the film, serving as the foundation for its poetic imagery.

Kling AI Applied to translate still frames into subtle motion, allowing moments of stillness and repetition to breathe and feel alive within the film’s rhythm.

Minimax Hailuo Used to create secondary image-to-video sequences that introduced variations in perspective and texture, enhancing the film’s sense of quiet motion.

RunwayML Employed for visual composition and refinement, blending AI-generated materials into a cohesive cinematic sequence.

Adobe Photoshop Handled the fine retouching of individual frames to maintain consistency and balance between light, texture, and emotional tone.

Adobe Premiere Pro Used for editing and narrative pacing, carefully arranging scenes to evoke a meditative tempo that reflects the film’s central theme of repetition.

DaVinci Resolve Performed the color grading and final visual polish, emphasizing the contrasts between monotony and transcendence through light and tone.