‘Age’ of Love: An Interview with Gay Filmmaker Goran Stolevski
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Loading... - Zora Dzodic
- 28 Mar 2023
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March is a little early to start compiling a list of the best movies of the year. But don’t be surprised if you see writer/director Goran Stolevski’s “Of An Age” (Focus) on some of those lists when the time comes. At turns, exhilarating, funny, sexy, touching, and ultimately heartbreaking, “Of An Age,” is one of those rare transformative gay coming-of-age stories. The combination of the acting (both Elias Anton as Kol and Thom Green as Adam are exceptional) and the writing and direction are effective. Stolevski was gracious enough to make time for an interview.
“1999” is the title of the first of two sections of “Of An Age,” with the second being 2010. What is the significance of those years?
Initially, I envisioned the “1999” section as the whole film. It was only while I was writing it that I got fascinated by what would these two…obviously the story has a lot of parallels to (Richard) Linklater’s “Before” trilogy, and also, I grew up obsessed with Truffaut’s (character) Antoine Doinel. I’m always curious if you revisit characters 10 years later and 10 years later than that, what happens, and how it comments on the story. Initially, I was going to do something set across a 24-hour period. Then I realized there wouldn’t be enough for a whole movie. Dancing in the back of my head were these ideas of how they met, how they would run into each other 10 years later. I knew there would have to be a specific cataclysmic event that had to bring them together. Then I remembered the Icelandic volcano being quite a news story in my life back in the day [laughs].
The “1999” section launches like a rocket ship taking off at full throttle, beginning with Ebony’s (Hattie Hook) panicked phone call to Kol, who then has to find a solution to the situation. It’s the kind of thing that gets viewers’ adrenalin pumping. Was that your intention?
A little bit. I’ve done a few short films in that style. I do find it thrilling as a viewer, and as a filmmaker. In this case, it was also how being a teenager felt to me [laughs]. Parts of my brain have outgrown others, but there are parts of me that still function like a teenager. It captures that part of my life. Pretty much the style that evolved in this film at every point is keeping track of the characters’ feelings. That’s what directed it. Then, obviously, a shift in style and energy happens, and we are keeping in lockstep with this character. How those elements interact is its own thing. I was a little bit worried about whether people would stay for the ride when that shift occurs [laughs]. That was my main concern before the film was edited. I wanted that feeling of being caught completely off guard. It’s a blip in the universe. Those first 18 minutes feel like day-to-day life, and then suddenly something veers off in another direction, and life feels completely different. Read More…
