Watch: Funky Animated Short ‘How My Grandmother Became a Chair’
by Alex Billington
April 21, 2023
Source: YouTube
Cozy up with this wonderfully funky animated short from Lebanon about a wild family and their grandma. How My Grandmother Became a Chair is an animated short film made by filmmaker Nicolas Fattouh. After playing at film festivals for the past two years, the short is now available online for everyone to enjoy. Grandmother loses her five senses one after the other until she transforms into a wooden chair. Throughout her transformation, she realizes that her housekeeper is not the wild animal she thought she was – but the real, caring and strong family member grandmother was looking for. An important story for all of us to learn from. It’s inspired by Nicolas’s own grandmother, Nadia Fattouh, and their housekeeper Asteer Chala. The short was initially awarded at the Arab Animation Forum (Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film in 2017), and won the Robert Bosch Stiftung Prize in 2018. He’s already working on two more new shorts after this. Enjoy.
Thanks to Short of the Week for featuring this on their channel. Brief intro from YouTube: “A Grandmother loses her five senses, one after the other, until she transforms into a wooden chair.” How My Grandmother Became a Chair is a short film written and directed by Lebanese artist / filmmaker Nicolas Fattouh – you can see more of his work on his Vimeo or on his Behance page. Produced by Fabian Driehorst and Nermine Haddad. With original music by Cedric Kayem. Nicolas explains his inspiration behind this story: “I naively thought she would always be there, but when she passed away, I knew she was gone forever.” Adding: “It was only on her deathbed that she was able to perceive her for who she truly was, a human with feelings and aspirations.” This initially premiered at the 2020 Krakow Film Festival and played at many other fests. For more info, visit the film’s official site or head to SOTW. To discover more shorts, click here. Who enjoyed it?
