How My Grandmother Became A Chair
2020 · 10m · Germany / Lebanon / Qatar
Directed by Nicolas Fattouh
Genres: animation, drama, fantasy
Tones: melancholic, mythic, surreal, tender
An elderly Lebanese grandmother loses her five senses one by one until she physically transforms into a wooden chair; as she fades, she discovers that her long-dismissed African housekeeper is the only true family she ever had.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Grandmother loses senses, becomes furniture, prejudice dissolves as family appears as predatory birds. The metaphor is heavy-handed but the animation premise is genuinely weird and Lebanese — I'll take it.
Fattouh's grandmother literally transforms into furniture while family members become predatory birds — the character-ecology inverts with the protagonist's dissolving prejudice. Bold 2D animation in the metamorphosis tradition of Caroline Leaf.
Metamorphosis into furniture rendered in bold 2D where family members appear as predatory birds and the housekeeper as a feline — that character-ecology inversion mapping to the prejudice arc is sophisticated visual storytelling. 10 minutes for a full metaphysical transformation is tight craft.
Reviews
The drawings that form the base for Fattouh's 2D animation mix a colorful and almost childlike romantic aesthetic, on the one hand, with a crude plot, on the other hand. The contrast that emerges reaches the viewer on an emotional level and leaves a lasting impression.
A compassionate, two-hander film on care and prejudice.
Festivals
- Krakow Film Festival 2020
- Carthage Film Festival (JCC) 2020, Silver Tanit (Tanit d'Argent)
- Sardinia Film Festival 2021, Grand Prix
- Fantastic Fest 2020