European University Film Award

Film Credits

Original Title: Domaćinstvo za početnici
Production countries: North Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia, Poland, Kosovo
Duration: 107 min.

Directed by: Goran Stolevski
Written by: Goran Stolevski
Produced by: Marija Dimitrova, Klaudia Śmieja-Rostworowska, Ankica Jurić Tilić, Beata Rzeźniczek, Milan Stojanović, Blerta Basholli
Cinematography: Naum Doksevski
Editing: Goran Stolevski
Production Design: Anna Rzeźniczek
Costume Design: Roza Trajceska Ristovska
Make-Up: Goran Igjnjatovski, Leonora Mehmeti Hodza
Sound: Emma Bortignon, Zoran Maksimovic
Original Score: Alen Sinkauz, Nenad Sinkauz
Visual Effects: Sean Wheelan, Anna Hägglin, Filip Kruse
Casting Director: Katerina Grubac, Milka Ancevska, Goran Stolevski
Cast: Anamaria Marinca, Alina Serban, Samson Selim, Mia Mustafi, Vladimir Tintor

From acclaimed filmmaker Goran Stolevski comes a story exploring the universal truths of family, both the ones we’re born into and the ones we find for ourselves. Dita never wanted to be a mother, but circumstances force her to raise her girlfriend’s two daughters, tiny troublemaker Mia and rebellious teen Vanesa. A battle of wills ensues as the three continue to butt heads and become an unlikely family that has to fight to stay together.

About the director

Goran was born and grew up in Macedonia before migrating to Australia in his teens. His debut feature, YOU WON'T BE ALONE, premiered in official competition at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, while his second, OF AN AGE, opened the 2022 Melbourne International Film Festival before winning the $100,000 CinefestOz prize for Best Australian Film. Both films were distributed internationally by Focus Features and Universal. Before shifting to features, Goran had made twenty-five shorts, playing over 200 festivals worldwide, with WOULD YOU LOOK AT HER winning the jury prize for Best International Short at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and being selected for the Criterion Channel. Goran completed a Bachelor in Creative Arts at the University of Melbourne and a Masters in Film and Television at the Victorian College of the Arts.

I've always been drawn to moments that feel ‘found’ or ‘discovered’ as opposed to ‘staged’. A lot of my filmmaking background has from necessity been built around shoestring budgets and skeleton crews. I’ve embraced this reality, developing a ‘verité’ style which has now become an important element of my work. I am a big believer in working with what’s there, rather than against it assessing the means at my disposal and shaping the most exciting imaginable story around them.

My approach with HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS - as with YOU WON’T BE ALONE, OF AN AGE, and my many shorts - was to create an environment on set that feels real and almost independent of the story we are telling. This involved often shooting in real locations, usually without marks and without traditional rehearsals, encouraging improv and personal connection among the actors, and taking care to create a safe and emotionally nurturing environment both on- and off-screen so that creativity can flourish. All through the shoot as well as the edit, my team and I remained open to ideas, suggestions, and changing circumstances in order to find the most impactful way to capture and flesh out our characters' feelings and bring their world to life. Shaping stories in this way helped to free up our actors and led to an entire ensemble's worth of captivating, natural performances.

In choosing a ‘verité’ style, with overlapping dialogue, hand-held camerawork, naturalistic lighting, tight yet purposely 'messy' framing, and shallow depth of field, the purpose was always for the viewer to experience the story as the characters experiencing it. For the viewer to viscerally feel the panic and intensity of their plight, to get a sense of what life is like in their skin and to ultimately take part in their emotional journey. (Goran Stolevski)