Student crush gets gay twist

Last year’s German coming-of-age drama Sasha, released in Australia on DVD this month, is another in a long line of teen ‘coming out’ films to join the annals of gay cinema.

That it feels so fresh despite telling such a well-worn tale is in no small part thanks to an assured performance from its lead, 28-year-old actor Sascha Kekez.

Kekez plays the film’s title role of Sasha Petrovic, a prodigiously talented music student who is forced to come out to his family when his strong attraction to his openly gay piano teacher Gebhard (played with an alluring cockiness by Tim Bergmann) can no longer be contained.

Speaking to the Star Observer from his home in Munich, Kekez said he held great affection for this, his first film.

“The movie came in my life at a very hard time. I’d just finished drama school, and I’d had to fight my way through it for four years because the teachers didn’t like me. There were a couple of deaths in my family too,” he explained.

“I thought, what’s going on here? Where are the good things in life?

“All of a sudden, my agent calls me and tells me a director wants to meet with me. The thought of being in a movie — any movie at all — was so exciting to me, but when Dennis [Todorovic, the film’s writer and director] told me the movie was called Sasha, I couldn’t believe it. To me, it was like an omen that this had to happen.”

Which all but answers our next question — did he have any trepidation ‘playing gay’, particularly for his first cinematic leading role?

“I didn’t hesitate at all. I grew up in Cologne, and I trained as a stage actor for four years. In that time you face all sorts of roles and acting challenges. Kissing a man or playing a gay character isn’t a big deal at all.

“I was a little nervous about the sex scene with the piano teacher, because I was worried I wouldn’t get along with the other actor. But I met Tim at the first reading and we connected right away, so that was a relief.”

Since its release in 2010, the film has screened at film festivals around the world, including our own Mardi Gras and Melbourne Queer Film Festivals. Kekez has since been inundated with feedback.

“I admit I was a bit egotistic. I assumed that once the movie was out, it’d be my big break and casting directors would be knocking at my door,” he chuckled.

“As it turns out, the reactions have been mainly from viewers. I’ve gotten mail and Facebook messages from all over the world — people saying they took their parents to see the film, and their parents finally understand how they feel. That was very rewarding, and I definitely wasn’t expecting that.

“It reminded me what this job is all about. It’s not about looking pretty on the screen, it’s about telling stories that connect with people.”

While it isn’t giving too much away to say Sasha doesn’t live happily ever after with his older but emotionally stunted teacher, the decision to have the pair consummate their mutual attraction seems somewhat controversial.

Has Kekez encountered any backlash about the film’s depiction of a forbidden student-teacher sexual encounter?

“Actually, no. The only criticisms I ever heard from fans was they thought it took too long for us to sleep together, and there should have been more nudity involved,” he laughed.

“But story-wise? No, there were no complaints!”

The relative chasteness of Sasha’s sole sex scene — particularly compared to much of gay cinema, where viewers are accustomed to at least one cock shot before closing credits — adds to the film’s sense of teenage innocence.

“I like that Dennis made it blurry and nicely lit. OK, it was a bit cheesy, but that’s what we all want to see, right? We’re all hopeless romantics!

“It’s Sasha’s first time and he’s so infatuated with this guy, so it should be nice and decent and not some soft-core porn scene. And I must admit, I was relieved I didn’t have to strip naked too.”

And with Todorovic serving as both writer and director for the film, Kekez acknowledged that there was a strong autobiographical element to the story of gay teenage lust.

“There are a lot of things from his personal life in the movie – although I don’t exactly know what’s real and what’s not. He told me some things about his own experiences, but I will have to keep them private – I can’t really tell him, ‘Oh Dennis, by the way, look out for this interview – I’ve told your life story!’”

INFO: Sasha (Love Films) out now on DVD.