I Wanted To Recreate How Childhood Felt, Not How It Happened: Triparna Maiti On The Chair- EXCLUSIVE

Director Triparna Maiti has every reason to rejoice as her stop-motion animated short The Chair has been selected for the 32nd Palm Springs International ShortFest. Did you know The Chair has been inspired by a deeply personal childhood memory? At Filmibeat, we love interacting with artists who are passionate about their work, and how could we not have a detailed conversation with Triparna Maiti?

Ahead of it Palm Springs premiere, Triparna Maiti opened up about the making of 'The Chair' in an exclusive conversation with Filmibeat Assistant Editor Abhishek Ranjit. Maiti bared her heart out as she reflected on the memories that shaped the film. How she found her own voice as a filmmaker? Her revelation deserves your read.

From a Childhood Memory to a Film

For Triparna Maiti, The Chair wasn't conceived as an autobiographical project. Instead, it emerged organically as she revisited the place where she grew up and found herself reconnecting with long-forgotten emotions.

"It wasn't intentional," she says. "The realization happened gradually as I began revisiting my childhood memories as an adult and reconnecting with the place where I grew up. I started rediscovering emotions I had almost forgotten, and one of them was my attachment to the wooden armchair in our ancestral house," she exclusively told Filmibeat.

What initially appeared to be an ordinary memory slowly revealed itself to be emotionally significant.

"It didn't seem significant at first, but I became curious about why that chair held such power over me. That curiosity slowly evolved into the seed of the film."

An Ordinary Chair That Carried Extraordinary Meaning

At the centre of the film is a wooden armchair that belonged to her grandfather-a seemingly everyday object that came to symbolize much more.

"My childhood in our ancestral house is very precious because it was a time when I was simply absorbing and experiencing the world," Maiti explained. "Among all the furniture, this armchair stood apart. It was treated with respect, and its design itself carried a sense of authority and stature," she quipped.

"The core memory is my fascination with the arm chair which remained the emotional heart of the film and I tried to preserve that feeling as honestly as possible. Everything else was built around it through imagination and storytelling. I wasn't interested in recreating my childhood exactly as it happened but rather in recreating how it felt," Maiti stated.

The chair was closely associated with the family's elders.

"My father, who is the eldest son, and my grandmother often sat on it, and before them it belonged exclusively to my grandfather. As a child, I was fascinated by its aura without fully understanding why. Looking back as an adult, I realize it symbolized power, belonging and hierarchy within the family," she added.

Finding Her Voice After Water

Looking back at her earlier internationally screened short Water, Maiti believes her biggest evolution has been personal.

"A lot has changed because I have changed as a person," she reflects. "I made Water while I was still in film school. When I look back now, I feel affection for that younger, naïve version of myself."

She believes experience has made her a more honest storyteller.

"I think I'm still naïve in some ways, but I've found my voice. Earlier, I often held back my thoughts and emotions, both in life and in storytelling. Now I try to be more honest and vulnerable."