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Actor Juan Pablo Di Pace, best known for his roles in Mamma Mia! and Fuller House, joins GLAAD Vice President of Communication and Talent, Anthony Allen Ramos, to talk about his feature directorial debut, Before We Forget. The poignant and deeply personal coming-of-age film is rooted in LGBTQ storytelling and the enduring impact of first love. Co-directed with Andrés Pepe Estrada and executive produced by the late, legendary Norman Lear, the film opens in select theaters on July 11.
Set in 1997 and told across two timelines, Before We Forget follows Matias, an Argentine filmmaker struggling to finish a film based on his first love, Alexander, a Swedish boy he met at boarding school. Their intense bond is abruptly cut short when Alexander is expelled, leaving Matias with feelings that remain unresolved 25 years later. Di Pace, who also wrote the screenplay, stars as the adult Matias, alongside Oscar Morgan and August Wittgenstein as the younger and older versions of Alexander.
“It’s been three and a half years since the film’s inception,” Di Pace shared with GLAAD. “This is my first time directing, and while I also appear in front of the camera, this is about telling a story that has a lot of tenderness, something I’ve been missing in cinema. It felt like the right time to tell this story.”
The film is also a tribute to family and healing. Di Pace’s real-life parents appear in the movie, his mother serves as the artistic director and even plays his mother onscreen, while his father worked on transport for the film. “It’s a love letter to my parents,” he said. “They’ve been through the full range of emotions with me. Watching this film beside them at festivals was really beautiful.”
Before We Forget holds a meaningful legacy as one of the final projects supported by Norman Lear. “It was the last film he watched in a cinema before he passed,” Di Pace reflected. “To have him behind this story meant everything. I’ve had wonderful chats with him, which were very important as a director, coming from someone like him.”
Through its layered storytelling, Before We Forget explores themes of longing, memory, and reconciliation. “I want audiences to feel seen,” Di Pace said. “For those who’ve experienced their first love, it’s a moment to reminisce. For young people, it’s a story that might mirror their own feelings. It’s about how that one love can shape your life, about family, and about what parents have to do to protect their children.”
Before We Forget expands in additional theaters in the coming weeks.
