When I was your age

The teaser for the film “When I was 13”

My kids are 13 and 15. Vulnerable. Loving. Standing in the fragile space between the instinct to separate from their parents and the deep need for support.

Being both a father and a cinematographer gives me a rare privilege — I can show my care not only in words, but in visible, lasting ways. Over the years, we’ve created small rituals together: music videos, annual interviews, funny and awkward little projects that capture who they are right now, before everything changes again.

Recently, a different idea came to me.

What if I sat in front of the camera and spoke about what I remember from being 13 — and from being 15?

I went one step further and asked my mother to do the same. Then I brought everything together: our voices, old photographs, archival footage, and fragments of audio recordings. What emerged was a very intimate story about adolescence in the 1960s and the 1990s.

It was important to me not to appear as a superhero or a bearer of wisdom. I wanted to be honest, raw. Someone who made mistakes, felt lost — and yet survived.

This film isn’t meant to teach a lesson.

It’s a gesture of love. A way of saying: you’re not alone — and you don’t need to have it all figured out yet. I frankly don’t expect gratitude or even feedback. Not now, at least. I just want the guys to feel that I’m by their side, that’s all. And while this film was made for my children, I know I’m not the only parent who carries memories like these — or the only one who wants to show up for their kids in a lasting way.