enea francia filmmaker
Meditating on a Chair
Interview
Why did you decide to open the short film with that quote from Blaise Pascal?
I decided to open the short film with a quote I first heard from my meditation teacher during my initial MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) retreat in Padua. I believe he used it to prepare us for what lay ahead: a lot of time alone with our thoughts. He also wanted to remind us of the importance of what we were doing.
What did you want to convey with this short film?
With this short film, I wanted to tell the story of a young man who can’t sleep because of tormenting thoughts, and who turns to mindfulness in search of inner peace. The film is also an excerpt from a much longer script I hope to shoot one day, which shares the same title: Meditating on a Chair.
What did you want to represent?
I wanted to express the inner struggle that a mindfulness session can involve. From the outside, it may look like nothing more than a boy sitting and breathing slowly, but on the inside, there’s often a battle with one's inner demons.
What is the name of the meditation technique used by the boy?
The technique he uses is one of the first taught in mindfulness practice: whenever you get distracted, you acknowledge the thought that has arisen and gently return your attention to the breath. The Buddha called it “Breath Meditation” – Ānāpānasati. “Ānāpāna” means inhalation and exhalation, while “Sati” means awareness. In this meditation, we observe the breath without trying to change it.
Why is the short film called MOAC?
I called it MOAC because I wanted to portray a young Westerner practicing this technique. In the West, unlike in the East, it’s much more common to meditate while sitting on a chair, as we’re not used to sitting on the floor for long periods. In the East, people often use a special cushion called a zafu... which also happens to be the name of my production company.
One last question: at the end, the boy doesn’t seem very relaxed. Are you saying the session didn’t work?
The purpose of meditation isn’t necessarily to feel better, but to develop awareness. Meditation can be seen as the art of becoming as comfortable as possible with our inner discomfort. As my teacher often says, mindfulness reminds us that we are the container, not the content, of our thoughts.