Ronnie S. Riskalla’s latest film Streets of Colour will make its Wollongong debut at the Gala Cinema this week. We spoke to Port Kembla-born actor Zoran Gulaboski, who began his acting journey in Wollongong as part of Macedonian Theatre Company, about the film and growing up in Berkeley.

Words Kirsten Hammermeister

Tell us about Streets of Colour and the character that you play…

The film is set in the streets of Western Sydney, in Mount Druitt. The character’s name is Adil and he is, for lack of lack of a better word, a local drug kingpin. He, along with his thugs, run the drug trade in the area. He’s a dangerous criminal. He is no nonsense. He’s driven by greed and he’s on the wrong side of the law. The main character of Streets owes him money and Adil plays his antagonist. He makes life difficult for the main character, basically, chasing after his money.

What themes are explored in the film?

There are several themes happening throughout the film – racial themes, cultural identity issues. We have themes of violence and redemption and finding the light – spiritual themes. A little bit of everything. A love story in between all of that as well.

Streets of Colour features a diverse cast, why do you think it’s important to represent diverse cultures on the screen?

They’ve been underrepresented, I believe, in Australian society. There seems to be a resurgence of cultural ethnicities coming up on screen now – it’s very important. Stories are universal and they can come from any background. These stories need to be told because they exist in our society today.

Tell us about your connection to the Illawarra and how you started acting…

I grew up in Berkeley, that was my hometown, and I was born in Port Kembla hospital. I have a soft spot in my heart for Wollongong, of course, because I run amok on the streets in my younger years.

There’s a large Macedonian community in the Illawarra. In my early teens, I was doing extra work for an agency, and I thought ‘I want to pursue the acting creative part’.

In the Macedonian community there was a play happening. I was in my late teens and the lead character was someone who was 19th or 18th century Macedonian poet. Apparently, I looked like him. I put my hand up to audition for the role and I got it. And this was all without acting experience.

It was definitely a challenge, not only did I have to learn the intricacies of the character but the Macedonian language, I also had to learn it all in Macedonian as well. I got the acting bug after that, and the rest is history.

And I’ll be quite frank, I wasn’t accepted as an Australian as such. It was always ‘go back to your home country’ and so forth. So, growing up we were a little confused here and we felt marginalised.

As you get older, you realise that we are all human, no matter what background you’re from, and because of that, accepting people for who they are, no matter what background they’re from. I’ve always loved the Illawarra. It’s a nice little getaway place for me now.

What do you hope that Wollongong and broader audiences will take away from the film?

There are so many facets in this film that people will take different aspects from. There’s a spiritual aspect from it.

I hope that people who have suffered racism in the past can learn that what other people say is not necessarily true. They can overcome abuse, the derogatory terms used against them, to become who they want to be. Anyone can be who they want to be. No matter what we face in this world we can always overcome the difficulties and become who we were meant to be.

As people we often reflect those closest to us, as well as the environment. If you’re in a bad environment, or abusive environment, there are ways out. There’s always redemption if you look for it.

Streets of Colour will screen at the Gala Cinema in Warrawong on Thursday 7 September, followed by a Q&A with writer and director Ronnie S Riskalla.

Book tickets at galacinema.com