MOVIE PREVIEW

“The Age of Love”

Free admission, refreshments and post-screening discussions.

Feb. 16

  • Roswell Senior Center, 1250 Warsaw Road, Roswell. 9:15 a.m., no reservations required.
  • East Cobb Senior Center, 3332 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta. 10 a.m., RSVP at 770-509-4900.

  • North Cobb Senior Center, 3900 S. Main St., Acworth. 1 p.m., RSVP at 770-975-7740.
  • West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs. 1 p.m., RSVP at 770-528-8200.
  • C. Freeman Poole Senior Center, 4025 S. Hurt Road, Smyrna. 1 p.m., RSVP at 770-801-3400.
  • Cherokee Conference Center, 1130 Bluffs Parkway, Canton. 1:30 p.m., RSVP at 770-345-7515.

Feb. 18

  • Central DeKalb Senior Center, 1346 McConnell Drive, Decatur. 1 p.m., no reservations required.
  • Bethesda Park Senior Center, 225 Bethesda Church Road, Lawrenceville. 1:30 p.m., no reservations required.

Sponsored by National Aging in Place Council, Atlanta Chapter

8 SENIOR DATING TIPS

1. Health issues are not a topic for conversation. It gives the impression you’re seeking a caregiver.

2. Show you’re happy with who you are, no matter your situation. Don’t let your circumstances define you.

3. Don’t focus on past relationships. Acknowledge your situation but don’t seem stuck in the past.

4. Review your wardrobe. Be your best with someone new — looking good means you care about others.

5. Be confident, curious, lively. You can’t erase wrinkles or have a teenage figure, but you can make eye contact, ask engaging questions and exude vitality.

6. Don’t involve your children right away. Wait until it gets serious.

7. Take your time before getting physical. You’re looking to share values and ideas with someone who sees you for who you are.

8. Be willing to step out of your comfort zone. Taking a chance makes you more interesting and sets you apart from the crowd.

Source: Steven Loring, director, “The Age of Love”

What is it like to be in your later years of life and yet still long for romantic love; to want to be held once again in someone’s arms and to enjoy companionship and affection?

Filmmaker Steven Loring of Brooklyn, N.Y., made it his personal journey to find out.

When he began, his father had recently passed away, leaving his mother, not quite 70, a widow with a half century of a loving marriage now behind her. That same year, a 78-year-old uncle, who had never even dated, fell madly in love for the first time.

Loring turned his curiosity onto a speed dating event being held for 70- to 90-year-olds in his hometown of Rochester, N.Y. He got permission to film it and followed 10 of the participants who shared their stories and feelings.

The result became a documentary, "The Age of Love," a poignant look at the intimate desires of senior adults. It turns out, the search for love is ongoing and lifelong, said Loring, speaking by phone from his home in New York.

He said many aging experts are hesitant to talk about love and dating among the senior set; they don’t know how it will be received in public. But demographics have changed worldwide. People are living longer and there’s a whole generation of adults ages 75+ who are living healthy, active lives and they’re looking for new opportunities for emotional growth.

“To be able to bring the topic out in public has been especially gratifying to me,” Loring said.

“This is a subject all of society needs to confront in an era where age doesn’t mean the same thing as it once did.”

In fact, the fastest-growing age segment in the U.S. are people age 85 or older, and living to be 100 is no longer an anomaly, according to research by the National Institutes of Health.

The film has had 250 screenings since being released in 2015, including international audiences in Russia, Brazil, Australia and London.

In metro Atlanta, “The Age of Love” will be shown in eight senior centers the week after Valentine’s Day. Sponsored by the National Aging in Place Council, Atlanta Chapter, the free screenings will include refreshments and a post-screening discussion. Some sites ask that viewers sign up in advance.

Chapter President MaryLea Quinn said the film was shown at a couple of metro sites last year and was well received, so the organization wanted to expand viewing opportunities this year.

Members of the NAIPC, Atlanta Chapter, will facilitate discussions and are offering speed dating events to be set up later if there is enough interest among older seniors. Speed dating is an organized social event where participants have brief face-to-face interviews to determine if they want to go on a date.

Loring has developed a Senior Speed Dating Kit, which he gives away free to sponsors, and encourages groups to host dating events for local seniors.

“We have had couples who met because of this,” Loring said. “Speed dating is a safe and fun way for people to meet.”

But the film is more than a look at how seniors date in the new millennium. Loring said it helps dispel some of the outdated stereotypes of aging. He encourages sponsors to include multiple generations in the viewings.

“It’s a topic that spans generations,” Loring said.

When shown to a school class of eighth-graders, Loring said one boy spoke out, expressing shock that these grandparent-types had some of the same feelings about love they had when they were young.

“There was an older lady sitting in the back of the room who shot back: ‘You’d better get used to it.’”