Housekeeping for Beginners is all about what it takes to really hold a found family together. Writer/director Goran Stolevski sat down with But Why Tho? to chat about the power of confined spaces and crowded homes. He also elaborates on what it’s like working with young and untrained actors, as well as how to build on-set chemistry that translates on-screen.
You can read an edited snippet of our interview below and press play below for the full 15-minute interview.
Get BWT in your inbox!
Get BWT in your inbox!
But Why Tho: One of [our] favorite movies from last year was of Of an Age. Both movies take place in really confined spaces. Of an Age in a car, Housekeeping for Beginners in a very crowded, not so large home. Is there something particular about these tight, crowded spaces that you’re drawn to?
Goran Stolevski: I think in both cases, I’m sort of documenting particular places at a particular time. They capture facets of my life. I grew up in an extremely crowded household [in Macedonia]. And then when I was 12, I moved to Australia, where most of your life is spent in a car. It’s going from somewhere extremely crowded to somewhere extremely… remote. I think a lot of people [responded] to Of an Age because it feels like their story.
And what’s been wonderful with Housekeeping for Beginners, on the other hand, is that when people watch it, in countries like Macedonia, where you don’t have the socio-economic option to have a room to yourself… they really respond to the fact that it feels like real life. It feels like what… is in their own houses, in their own families. No matter what walks of life, or sexualities, they happen to come from.
But Why Tho: What would you say to people who didn’t grow up in a crowded home? What should people understand about that, that maybe isn’t automatic if you didn’t grow up in that kind of space?
Goran Stolevski: Just consider this as [normal] for people in the world. For most people, this is [normal]. As much as it might seem strange, to some people, this is what doesn’t seem strange. The way you can tell a rich kid in the arts is they’re always complaining about how broke they are. If they’re broke, usually most people don’t [complain]. So I think it’s just about that. What might be a little bit confronting, or abrasive, about this kind of space [for some people], too a lot of people, this is just what normality [is] like.
But Why Tho: The title Housekeeping for Beginners makes it sound like it’s a guidebook almost. If this was a guidebook, what’s rule number one, what’s the most important thing about holding a family together like this?
Goran Stolevski: Rule number one is there are no rules. You need to figure that out for yourself, rather than look to other people. Actually, the tagline in the original poster in Europe was “We’re gonna need new rules.” And that’s shaping what the film is really about. As I said, that can be confronting or unmooring. But it can also be liberating and enriching. There’s a benefit when you know you’re a beginner at something, rather than when you’re assuming that you aren’t. You can mess up a lot of things when you think that you’re right about something. So yeah, I think just keeping it open and going, “there [are] no rules, so what are we gonna do?”
But Why Tho: [It] seems like a lot of the actors that you worked with are folks who either have no acting experience or very little prior screen experience. I’m curious if this is on purpose and [what it’s like] working with folks who have not as much experience.
Goran Stolevski: No, it’s not by design. It’s often because of the nature of the stories. There’s almost no trained Roma actors in Macedonia. You’re gonna have to be open to what the experience is gonna bring. But I think, in terms of working with non-trained actors versus trained, it is very different. It’s taught me a lot. It’s changed the way I work with trained actors as well. It’s less about telling them what to do. It’s more about organizing an environment around them so that they feel emotionally safe at all times. They feel like they can’t give up and there’s no one waiting to say, “No, you did that wrong.”
You can listen to the rest of our 15-minute interview with Goran Stolevski to hear more about working with untrained actors, building a family on set, and more.
