Speed Dating For Seniors Movie
Jan 25, 2016 Burkburnett Speed Dating For Seniors, internet dating sites vineland nj, portsmouth heights black speed dating, hookup website show low arizona. Apr 27, 2014 The Age of Love: Directed by Steven Loring. The announcement of a first-of-its-kind Speed Dating event exclusively for 70- to 90-year-olds spurs a diverse group of seniors to take stock of aging bodies and still-hopeful hearts.
The idea of over-70s speed dating may evoke laughter from “how cute” to “how silly” but in a new documentary called The Age of Love, which follows senior’s speed dating, ultimately shows that the need for love and intimacy never dies – no matter one’s age.
After hearing about special speed-dating events exclusively for people aged between 70 to 90, filmmaker Steven Loring, 52, set out to find the answers to the questions: “Do our hearts and desires change over a lifetime?” and “What changes about love as we age?” He did this by documenting 10 senior’s speed-dating journeys – before, during and after the experience of judging and being judged, for five minutes at a time.
As he followed these singles – from anxious anticipation to the sting of rejection that hurts just as much at 75 as it did at 25 – Loring found the answer to his questions and more: our dreams and desire don’t change. Love doesn’t change.
“I think there’s a huge demand for people to have opportunities to still be seen, to be loved, to be understood by somebody else. It doesn’t matter what your age is… So I don’t think love changes, it just gets stripped down to what’s essential.”
And what is essential? Companionship.
“It’s not what’s left of love – it’s what love is all about. The idea, the construct, that there’s something more intense. We add a lot of things – status, money, family, love and romance; we lose track of the fact that at any age the essence of love is the defeat of isolation.”
As the documentary follows ten hopeful over-70s in the lead-up to the big day, it’s clear that just like the young, they yearn for another’s touch, they want to be seen, they want to be understood but most of all, they want a new chance of love. Who can’t relate?
“I want that guy that – when I'm doing dishes – will come up behind me and nuzzle my neck and give me a hug,' says Donna, one of the women featured in the film. 'I want that guy that will pick up the phone and call me during the day just because he's thinking of me. That's who I am.”
A rare film that offers a glimpse to the often-overlooked lives of seniors, it doesn’t stray from the realities of ageing. Amid creaky joints, wrinkly skin and oxygen tanks, the subjects all wonder how it will be to meet someone new when their bodies aren’t what they used to be.
“My arms are wrinkled and flabby. Do I want them to be? No,” says Linda, a former beauty queen, who is another single in the documentary. “But this is who I am, and I think it’s better just to be me. I’m disappointed that I can’t see the person that I feel inside. I don’t feel 70 inside.”
“I’m virile – I’m ready,” says Matt, whose oxygen tank trails behind him.
Born in the years before World War II, none of the 30 participants of the senior speed-dating event dreamt of being flung into the new millennium dating rituals.
“These are people who thought they would be married to one person for the rest of their lives,” Loring says. “They didn’t expect to end up speed dating.”
But as the film explore the realities of romance, loneliness, loss, physical deterioration and new beginnings, the over-70s show an incredible resilience and love of life, ready to take life by its horns, move out of their comfort zone and give this speed-dating thing a go to find what we all want: happiness.
“Some people just give up on life. The object is not to give up on life,” says 82-year-old Lou.
Watch the trailer here:
Senior Speed Dating
The Age of Love is not out in Australia yet. Find out more at the website or Facebook.
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