Sasha is young, handsome and living in Cologne, and has a secret crush on his hot piano teacher. A refreshing take on coming-out, with all the ups & downs of finding one’s own way.
While Sasha's mother is dreaming of her son's great career as a pianist, Sasha is left speechless for other reasons: his beloved piano teacher Mr. Weber tells him, he is leaving town forever. Sasha is heartbroken, and the only person in whom he can confide his feelings, is his best friend, Jiao. As a son of an Ex-Yugoslav family even in Germany one rarely lives outside the closet, and Sasha is grateful that his homophobic father believes Jiao is his girlfriend. But what begins as a useful lie becomes a large and complicated one, when Sasha's younger brother, begins an affair with Jiao. All lies get exposed and what appears to be a catastrophe is in fact the revelation of new possibilities in the lives of Sasha's family.
From Germany, with a taste of old Yugoslavia, we bring you Sasha. The Petrovic family own a pub in Cologne, which they have been living in for 20 years. The patriarchal attitude is sadly stuck in the old country, keeping their son Sasha (Sascha Kekez) firmly in the closet. Stanka, Sasha’s mother would like nothing more than for her son to claim his independence with a scholarship to play the piano, and the boy is certainly talented, but a deep passion for his music teacher distracts Sasha from the upcoming exam.
To be fair, Tim Bergmann (who plays the tutor Gebhard) could distract anyone – hot. The relationship between mentor and student is suspiciously intimate from the outset, so the audience share in Sasha’s belief that this could indeed be a promising relationship. But gradually we are introduced to more of Gebhard’s real life, and discover that not only does he have commitment issues, but he is about to leave for a prestigious position in Vienna.
Passions escalate, and the truth will out. But Sasha does maintain a nice balance of humour from the puppy-like brother Boki, and the useless Uncle Pero. Father Vlado remains an intimidating presence throughout, leading to the film’s climax.
The plot is occasionally clunky, relying on twists and tension, when it actually fares much better as a character study of an isolated and outdated familial attitude; as eastern European humour and mentality clashes with western liberalism. Deceptively insightful once you get past the cliches.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2011 Mardi Gras Film Festival 2011 Brisbane Queer Film Festival 2011 German language. English subtitles.>
To be fair, Tim Bergmann (who plays the tutor Gebhard) could distract anyone – hot. The relationship between mentor and student is suspiciously intimate from the outset, so the audience share in Sasha’s belief that this could indeed be a promising relationship. But gradually we are introduced to more of Gebhard’s real life, and discover that not only does he have commitment issues, but he is about to leave for a prestigious position in Vienna.
