Photo by Píkoi Hummingbird.
Some films are born from a script. Others, from obsession. “i, GOD” was born at an afterparty, somewhere between banter and cigarette smoke, when Copenhagen-based creatives Mariko Siig and Matija Max Vidovich decided to take on one of the internet’s most famous metaphysical short stories, Andy Weir’s The Egg. Their mission: to reimagine it as a philosophical 3D animation exploring death, reincarnation, and the illusion of free will. The idea was ridiculous, impossible — and completely irresistible.
Nine months, one computer, two residencies, and zero budget later, the duo premiered their 20-minute short at Park Bio Theater in Copenhagen — a surreal and tender meditation on existence that fuses Blender animation, live action, and game-like visual language into something that feels both strangely human and algorithmically divine.
“i,GOD” is an animated hybrid short film based on Andy Weir’s 2009 short story “The Egg.” Set in the afterlife, it follows India, a young woman in her late 20s who, after ending her life, awakens in an egg-like space where God himself awaits. Confused and searching for answers, she questions the meaning of her existence, the nature of free will, and what comes next. In a compassionate yet somewhat banal & cartoon-like conversation, God reveals a profound truth: that every human life is part of a single soul, living countless lives across time, growing with each experience.
The film explores themes of reincarnation, empathy, and the intricate interconnectedness of all human existence. By genre, “i,GOD” is a philosophical fiction, swimming between the spaces of 3D animation and live action. The animation, led by Mariko Siig, was created using Blender, an open-source 3D software that has recently garnered wide recognition in the film world.
“i,GOD” also acts as a kind of prequel to Andy Weir’s original narrative, intertwining multiple timelines — from present-day and 1972 Davis, California — in a direct homage to the original author.
About the creators of “i, GOD”
Matija Max Vidovich, Croatian, Copenhagen-based, but born and raised in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, is a first-time film director with a hefty background in the fashion industry. Matija primarily works as a fashion stylist, but is no stranger to the ‘fashion pencil’, as well as casting.
“Ultimately this short film is about perspective, and how we see life, or how we choose to see it. To me, even though it seems pretty grim — not having a choice or being all alone out here, and all that jazz — it still feels quite liberating: no choice, no good or bad, one terminal fate. Just life, I suppose. Because of that aloof ideology, this format of a hybrid animated short, with live action palette cleansers and gameplay aesthetics, made perfect sense to me.“
“Somehow the piece became light. Not only that, but it ushered in this cartoonish bluntness and allowed for experimentation, which both Mariko and I enjoyed so much. ‘i,GOD’ gathered some of the finest and most promising Copenhagen-based creatives, and what an absolute pleasure it was to be creating this fun piece with them. Forever grateful to that funny, lighthearted and genius team.”
- Matija Max Vidovich
Mariko Siig, Japanese-Danish, Copenhagen-based, but born and raised in London, UK, is a self-taught 3D artist. Like Matija, she has a long history in fashion, having worked as a model, but since 2020 she has been teaching herself the open-source software Blender — the very tool that would later shape the visual soul of i,GOD.
“Making an existential film about the inevitability of life and death, with a melancholic but somewhat hopeful message really resonated with me. I’m not religious, neither am I an atheist, but this story nearly perfectly captures how I make sense of my world.“
“At first, when Matija asked me to make a cartoon, I said no way. I was thinking of the stereotypical cartoon, with highly animated bodies and faces. I’m glad, in the end, I trusted his vision.”
“Aesthetically, this storyline allowed the visuals to be otherworldly, strangely surreal but also like a gameplay intro/outro. It felt like we were onto a weird, new kind of genre — a short animated film: not entirely a cartoon, not entirely 3D, a game you don’t really get to play.”
- Mariko Siig
“I, GOD” Credits:
Directed & written for the screen, Matija Max Vidovich
Production, MS Studios
Lead 3D artist, Mariko Siig
Based on “The Egg” by Andy Weir
Voice of India, FLA V A
Voice of God, Ezra Shami
Original score, Jakob Bundgaard
Organ composer, Nikolaus Von Bemberg
Music composer, Jonas Boesby Skou
Live-action DOP & editor, Maja Lumholt
Graphics & poster art, Toby Friedman
Film edit, Mikkel Stenild
