HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS Trailer: Goran Stolevski Follows Up ‘Of An Age’ With a Tale of An Unlikely Queer Family

December 14, 2023

Goran Stolevski is a filmmaker on the rise who’s had three strong features over the last few years. The Macedonian-Australian director made a splash at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival with his witchy horror You Won’t Be Alone. He followed that up with the tender, decade-spanning gay romance Of An Age. He now returns to his native North Macedonia with a raw new drama that is also the country’s official Oscars submission for Best International Feature. Housekeeping For Beginners is a cinéma vérité-like exploration of a makeshift family that is forced to come together under tragic circumstances. Anamaria Marinca (in her second collaboration with Stolevski after You Won’t Be Alone) stars as Dita, a social worker who lives with her girlfriend (Alina Serban), her girlfriend’s daughters, and other runaways/lost souls in a tightly-spaced house. When tragedy strikes, Dita is forced to step up as a caretaker to the two girls and make some unconventional decisions to keep their family together.

Stolevski shot the film in real locations without rehearsals – contributing to its documentary-like aesthetic. It also explores the lack of legal protections for LGBTQIA+ citizens of Macedonia, which play a huge role in this dysfunctional group having to find common ground with one another. Focus Features – which has released all three of Stolevski’s films – has released the official trailer ahead of its release early next year.

Here’s the official synopsis:

HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS explores the universal truths of family, encompassing both the bonds we inherit and those we create. The narrative revolves around Dita, who, despite never aspiring to be a mother, finds herself compelled to raise her girlfriend’s two daughters—Mia, a tiny troublemaker, and Vanesa, a rebellious teenager. As their individual wills clash, a heartwarming story unfolds about an unlikely family’s struggle to stay together.

Housekeeping For Beginners opens in theaters January 26. See the trailer and poster below.