How We Are Now
Peter, a retired actor, lives with his partner of sixty years, Douglas. As Douglas approaches his eighty-third birthday, they offer an intimate view into how old age affects their live: from getting our of best in the morning to how they think about the future.
How We Are Now screened at NFFTY 2016 in the Come As You Are screening.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:
Born in Milan and raised in London, Andrea is an ambitious and versatile filmmaker, with a particular interest in the absurd, the grotesque and the darkly comic.
After graduating with a BA in Theatre & Performance from the University of Warwick, he was accepted on an MA course at The London Film School. During his time at the school, Andrea wrote and directed several shorts, both fiction and documentary, which have since been shown in major film festivals around the world.
Home Education is his graduation project. He is currently working on the feature version of the script.
A Brief Interview with Andrea:
Why did you decide to make this film?
As someone who has always been afraid of physical decline, old age is a phase in life that fascinates me. In old age, the future becomes increasingly uncertain and we can’t make the same long-term plans we do when we’re younger because the majority of our life is behind us.
I felt that this philosophical aspect of old age is very rarely, if ever, tackled in documentary and yet it’s such an essential part of our lives to confront and explore. If you come to terms with it earlier then I think that you can see the value in being elderly.
The film explores the subject closely and our contributors were incredibly willing to show us very intimate details in their life that a lot of people in their position might have been frightened or embarrassed to reveal. In their humour and profound reflection, they demonstrated that though physical decline and lifestyle changes are a large part of growing old, we can face them with great positivity by looking ahead and adapting to our situation.
What was your favorite part about making it?
Peter and Douglas, our subjects. Their humour, honesty, affection and the love they had for each other were quite overwhelming and we became close friends during and after shooting the documentary. They became like a second set of grandparents. Sadly Douglas passed away last year but we were given the very moving task of designing the booklet for his funeral, which was a very emotional experience.
What are you working on now?
I am now writing the feature script for my latest short film 'Home Education', a darkly-comic psychological thriller set in the English countryside. I am also preparing to hopefully shoot a documentary in Afghanistan later next year, following two girls and how since the fall of the Taliban regime they have been able to receive an education and are now in university.
Find Andrea & How We Are Now online:
Website: http://andreaniada.com/
How We Are Now Website: http://www.howwearenowfilm.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/howwearenow
Twitter: @HowWeAreNowFilm -- https://twitter.com/HowWeAreNowFilm