Sisyphus 2.0

A visualization of Albert Camus’ The Myth of Sisyphus, through the lens of surveillance cameras around the world.

  • Luiza Parvu
    Director
    Start Anew World, My Baby, Draft 7, The Birthday
  • Toma Peiu
    Director
  • Toma Peiu
    Writer
    Start Anew World, Dry Bones, My Baby, The Birthday
  • Luiza Parvu
    Producer
    Start Anew World, Dry Bones
  • Toma Peiu
    Producer
    Start Anew World, Dry Bones
  • Luiza Parvu
    Editors
    Stop (d. Reinaldo Marcus Green), Start Anew World (d. Luiza Pârvu)
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short, Student, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Experimental
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 20, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    1,500 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Romania
  • Country of Filming:
    Romania, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Tisch School of the Arts
Director Biography - Luiza Parvu, Toma Peiu

Luiza Pârvu and Toma Peiu have been making films together since 2009. They met and started collaborating while doing their BFAs at the Film Faculty of the National University of Drama and Film I.L. Caragiale in Bucharest, Romania – where Luiza graduated as a film director, and Toma as a screenwriter and film scholar.

They moved to New York City in 2012, when Luiza received the Dean's Fellowship to pursue the NYU Tisch School of The Art’s MFA in Film Production program. Toma is currently pursuing his MA in Media Studies at The New School University. In 2014, they founded their own production company, Root Films.

As co-writers and / or co-producers, they have collaborated on several short narrative films directed by Luiza Pârvu, such as Start Anew World (2014), My Baby (2013), Draft 7 (2011) or The Birthday (2010), which have been screened and / or awarded at over 80 film festivals and events worldwide, including the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, the Transilvania International Film Festival, CinemaJove Valencia or the Brest European Short Film Festival.

Luiza and Toma are currently working on a few short and feature film projects, in various stages of development or post-production. With each of the projects they produce, they try to learn a little more about the world, themselves, the medium of film and its possibilities.

This is their first shared credit in directing.

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Director Statement

Video surveillance has penetrated virtually every space inhabited by humans. Tragedies, excitement, catastrophes, moments of bliss, and the everyday life of the common man are nowadays documented on an unprecedented scale. Countless hours are recorded daily in an endless narrative of the spectacle of human existence. The content is usually available to private eyes, and the universal meaning obscured by the apparent disconnect between the various individuals, spaces and activities recorded.

Made entirely out of surveillance footage available online, Sisyphus 2.0 is meant to mirror existentialist philosopher Albert Camus’ text, originally published in 1942, in present day’s reality. It is a bookmark we are trying to place, in an attempt to capture the particular mark of a certain moment in the evolution of the post-industrial era, doing our best not to obscure the timeless, tireless and resilient nature of the manifestations of human spirit.

The film was produced collaboratively by Luiza Pârvu and Toma Peiu, graduate students at NYU Tisch School of The Arts and, respectively, The New School. It was made as an assignment for the ITP / Documentary Surveillance Collaboration Class at New York University - Tisch School of the Arts.