Abstract: The French short films Oracles, Sphinx, and OEdipe, chronicle the life of OEdipe, a young man with Down syndrome. The films are a contemporary take on the Greek mythological figure Oedipus. Abstract The French short films Les Oracles, Sphinx, and Œdipe, chronicle the life of Œdipe, a young man with Down syndrome. The films are a contemporary take on the Greek mythological figure Oedipus. The first film follows Œdipe as he embarks on his journey to Oracle of Delphi.

Details: Les Oracles follows Œdipe’s journey to the Oracle of Delphi. He appears on the screen dressed in motorcycle gear on his bike over a snowy road. At a clearing, he stops, pauses and looks at the trees near him. The scene jumps to a still life consisting of a blue candle, a blue skull, and a blue hourglass fabricated by a 3D printer, located in a white void. Suddenly, Œdipe is also standing in the empty space. He wanders around, limping clumsily and finally meets the Oracle, two older men in suits. They are discussing time and space over a spoonful of red soup. Œdipe approaches them, and the two of them lead him further through the room, passing, among other things, the 3D printer that is printing the skull to the “slide,” a picture that shows trunks in a forest. Finally, the two men sit down, and Œdipe lies down in front of them. Between them is the red soup in which an eye-like object floats. Œdipe questions them on the identity of his mother and father. Suddenly, blue light fills the room, the two men smear blood on their faces and a life-size eye appears next to them. They prophesise: “You will kill your father and marry your mother.” Œdipe wakes up, the blue light is gone, and the room is white again. He gets up, picks up his helmet and returns to the “foil,” which now shows the underside of an uprooted tree. Suddenly he is back in the forest, as shown in the beginning of the film. He gets on his bike and rides off.