enea francia filmmaker
Enea Francia 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 heard from my meditation teacher during my first MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) retreat in Padua. I believe he used it to prepare us for what was coming: 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 thoughts that torment him, and who decides to do a session of mindfulness to find some inner peace. Additionally, this short film is an excerpt from a much longer script that I would like to shoot one day, which is also called Meditating on a Chair.
What did you want to represent?
I wanted to convey the struggle that a mindfulness session can represent. From the outside, it may look like just a boy breathing slowly, but 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 the practice of mindfulness: whenever you get distracted, you acknowledge the thought that has arisen, and gently bring your attention back to the breath. The Buddha called it “Breath Meditation” – Ānāpānasati. “Ānāpāna” means inhaling and exhaling, while “Sati” means awareness. In this meditation, we focus on the breath without trying to change it.
Why is the short film called MOAC?
I called it MOAC because I wanted to tell the story of 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, since we’re not used to sitting on the floor for long periods. In the East, instead, they use a special cushion called a zafu... just like the name of my production company.
One question: at the end, the boy doesn’t seem very relaxed. Are you saying that the session didn’t work?
The purpose of meditation isn’t necessarily to feel better, but to bring awareness. Meditation can be seen as the art of learning to be as comfortable as possible with your inner discomfort. My teacher often says that mindfulness is the tool that reminds us we are the container, not the content, of our thoughts.