Old Guys in Bed – a new film exploring love, intimacy and online dating in the older gay community
"There are so few characters on film and television who are older gay men," says director Jean-Pierre Bergeron
By Aaron Sugg
A film about older gay men exploring love and passion within relationships debuted yesterday at Cinema Diverse: The Palm Springs LGBTQ+ Film Festival.
Entitled Old Guys in Bed, the film is directed by Jean-Pierre Bergeron and had its world premiere in August at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal.
The film stars Duff MacDonald as Paul Noren, a sixty-something gay film historian navigating romance after years of being single, and Paul James Saunders as Bill, a man in his seventies.
“I believe my film is probably the first that shows older men kissing” – Jean-Pierre Bergeron on displaying older gay men in intimate settings
Encouraged by his niece Caitlin (Joan Hart), Paul ventures into online dating and meets Bill in a quaint cabin, setting the stage for a late-in-life love story.
Bergeron, a filmmaker and actor, said he chose Palm Springs for the US premiere because of the city’s large older LGBTQ+ community.
The 78-year-old told the Desert Sun: “There are so few characters on film and television who are older gay men.”
He added: “I believe my film is probably the first that shows older men kissing, and there are intimate scenes that focus on emotions rather than pornography.”
The film has received positive reviews for its authenticity and emotional depth. IndieWire called it “daring and profoundly human,” and Edge Media Network called it “a landmark moment for LGBTQ+ cinema.”
Bergeron publicly came out in his late 50s after releasing his short film Alone With Mr. Carter. He drew inspiration for Old Guys in Bed from his own experiences with heartbreak and online dating, as well as stories from friends in their sixties and seventies.
Old Guys in Bed is the first instalment in a planned trilogy of films about older gay men by the filmmaker.
Bergeron is currently developing the second entry, Meet Me at the Crystal, set and filmed in snowy Canada.