Marrakech – There are short films… and then there’s INSPIRATION – The Journey of Jonas — a poetic, 8-minute plunge into the depths of the sea and the human soul.
Picture this: a freediver drifting into the belly of the ocean, guided by a whale, caught somewhere between ancient myth and modern existential longing.
And yes, it’s just as dreamy as it sounds.
Launched on World Ocean Day (because, of course), INSPIRATION isn’t just a film. It’s an underwater fever dream — equal parts Jonah and Jules Verne — directed by Jean-Charles Granjon and starring the breathtaking calm of world champion freediver Morgan Bourc’his.
Spoiler: He doesn’t just swim. He transforms.
The film dives into a symbolic aquatic world where the line between human and ocean blurs.
A man is drawn into a jaw-shaped crevice in the cliffs, guided through a surreal dreamscape by a whale inspired by a real stranding in 2011.
The creature is myth, memory, and mirror: “a living landscape, a poetic conscience, and a symbol of regeneration.”
Directed by Jean-Charles Granjon, the film fuses real freediving at 30 meters depth with stunning 3D animation, 450,000 lumens of underwater lighting, and a soundtrack that breathes — thanks to composer Léo Doboka-Sauvage, whose score revived a project that had paused for years.
“The myth of Jonah is a matrix of transformation,” Granjon explains. “In this film, the ocean becomes a sacred space, a place of inner catharsis.”
And clearly, it resonates. INSPIRATION has been nominated by the Rhode Island International Film Festival — one of only six festivals worldwide recognized by both the Oscars® and BAFTA.
Produced by Marseille-based Bluearth Production, the film is a jewel of technical craft and emotional depth. But more than that, it’s a quiet manifesto. A reminder that in diving down, we often rise up.
Available now on Bluearth’s platform.
Watch it. Breathe it. Begin again.
