I sat down with actor-writer Christopher Sherwood to discuss his new, BAFTA-winning short film, Geronto.

Geronto explores the queer, intergenerational relationship between Younger, played by Noah Valentine (Casualty, Waterloo Road), and Older, played by Jason Watkins (Wicked Little Letters, The Crown).

The film is based on Sherwood’s own experiences, a hit among festivals, and a bold exploration of queer love and intimacy that challenges assumptions about relationships across generations.

Who are you, and what is Geronto?

I’m Christopher Sherwood, an actor, and writer of Geronto, a short film about inter-generational attraction based on a real encounter of mine when I was in my early twenties.

You’ve spoken about growing up without really having anyone or anything to point to and go, ‘oh, that’s me.’ When you look at the films and TV you watched growing up, is there anything you can see differently now?

There is a lot more representation of queer characters in mainstream TV and film than when I was growing up, but it remains the case that the sort of relationship I am in remains niche and something of a curiosity.

Gogglebox has recently taken a great leap forwards, however, by including a gay couple with a 30-year age gap!

Do you remember the moment you decided that you needed to bring Geronto to life?

The seed was planted when I first shared the anecdote with people and experienced what a good reaction it got.

That got me thinking that this sequence of events could actually say something important in a memorable, dramatic and concise way.

It was when I verbalised the idea of turning it into a short film with our Producer, Tom Taplin, over dinner one evening, that I felt destined to make it happen.

There’s something quite mad about having a personal experience that you might spend years keeping to yourself, and then deciding to turn it into a film that strangers are going to sit and watch.

Was there a point where you thought, ‘God, what have I done?’. Or, was it more that there was a moment that made you feel sure that telling this story was absolutely the right thing to do?

Ha!

There have definitely been moments where it has crossed my mind that people I know and like might be slightly disturbed by what they see in this film.

These are not the kind of details one normally broadcasts about oneself.

But, I overrode those doubts and fears with a sense of responsibility to all the other people in age-gap relationships who are so frequently misunderstood (if indeed they are ‘out’) and who might find comfort in the existence and message of this film.

The characters are from two very different generations, grown up with completely different experiences. What do you think each of them understands about the other that they can’t quite see for themselves?

The easiest part of this is to observe something I’ve experienced a lot over the years, which is that the younger character finds the older character physically attractive in a way that the older character doesn’t quite understand or even believe.

In terms of what Older sees in Younger that Younger can’t see, it’s a little tricker to answer without giving away the plot, so I might just leave that there…

As an actor yourself, do you think you write differently because you know what it’s like to be in front of the camera?

I think what being an actor has given me is the experience of reading loads of scripts of varying quality. That has definitely given me a sense for what works and what doesn’t.

As I’m writing, I’m also regularly saying the lines out loud to see how they sit in the mouth and feel in the mind.

I’m asking myself if I’d feel good about saying these words if I was playing the role myself.

Was there anything Jason Watkins or Noah Valentine brought to their characters that surprised you, or made you rethink something you’d written?

Noah’s audition surprised me by hitting me so hard I burst into tears.

It was like he’d seen my soul and was playing it back to me. It brought back all the feelings and emotions from that time in my life. I was not expecting that in the slightest, and his final performance only built on that.

Jason’s performance was also better than I could have imagined it to be.

It’s just so nuanced and real that I get lost in the story every time I watch it, like it’s really happening in front of me.

What was the on-set dynamic like with cast and crew spread over a few generations? Any fun stories there?

The on-set dynamic was fascinating to me – feeling how it evolved over the three days of filming.

Day one was sort of functional and professional, and it took a bit of time for a lot of the crew to realise what a personal story it was, that it was a true story, and my story. Our house was used as unit base on Day 1 so people got to meet my much older husband and see the age-gap dynamic for real.

Then, in the pub scene, a number of my older friends offered their help as extras. Again, this brought a layer of reality to proceedings.

I really sensed how people’s attitude to the film and to each other changed over the shoot – it went from being just another job to really feeling like a big family who were battling the elements and giving a lot of themselves to make something beautiful.

The love and support I felt from the crew was quite overwhelming, and I’m so very grateful to them all.

You’ve now got something quite personal out in the world, open for interpretation. Have you heard anything from an audience member that’s made you think about the film differently?

On a positive note, I’ve had a lot of heartfelt thanks from older men who have been in relationships with younger men, who experienced ridicule and shame as a result of it, and who always felt like they had to explain and justify their relationships. Given I wrote it from a younger man’s perspective, I hadn’t quite anticipated the value it would hold for them.

On a less positive note, the lack of interest in the film from queer film festivals, where the film is most likely to find the audience that will directly resonate with it and benefit from seeing it has made me wonder about how it’s coming across.

All European Queer film festivals that we applied to rejected our submission.

Having been to a number of queer film festivals over the years and never seen any representation of young men who are sexually attracted to old men, I naively assumed that the queer film festivals would snap it up to broaden their representation.

I’m left to speculate about why this might be since we don’t get feedback, but of course it makes me wonder whether this true story of mine is being interpreted in the way I had hoped.

How does it feel to listen to different ‘takes’ on a story that’s essentially based on your real life?

It feels very personal!

Thankfully, the feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive and very astute, so I haven’t had to contain any anger at someone ‘just not getting it’!

I’m sure there are people who don’t care for it, but they haven’t made their feelings known to me.

Yet.

Is there anything about Geronto you think people might completely misunderstand?

My main fear is a reflection of my own experience of entering into an age-gap relationship in real life, where even people close to me assumed I was being manipulated somehow against my natural will.

I have to wonder whether people might view the events of the film and feel that an unnatural power dynamic is at play.

I fear that people might assume the film is the fantasy of an older man rather than a very welcome reality of a younger one.

How do you feel about that?

Frustrated, but also deeply motivated – it’s exactly why I made the film – to dispel the false assumptions that I’m so used to hearing and reading.

Is there anything that you wish more people would notice? A detail or line in the film you’re particularly proud of?

Me as an extra in the pub scene when Younger walks in!

And there’s a beautiful moment I can’t take any credit for but that I find so satisfying every time, when they’re both looking up at the tree, and then bring their heads back down in perfect sync. It’s beautiful, unplanned choreography that is a testament to how in-tune these two incredible actors were with each other. 

If Geronto opens a door for you, what are you hoping is on the other side?

A whole load of much happier and more comfortable inter-generational couples surrounded by their very supportive and understanding friends and families, all looking back at me with grateful eyes and clapping hands as I cover my face with our BAFTA trophy and make a phallic gesture with the Oscar, much to everybody’s amusement(!).

---

You can follow Geronto’s journey over on their Instagram, and keep up to date with current screening and streaming news.

(Let the record state that I will 1000% be part of the cheering crowds when said BAFTA-waving and Oscar-cocking is going on.)