Sasha
by Dennis Todorović
Germany 2010, 102 min
Sasha, confronted with the everyday prejudice of his homophobic immigrant family, struggles with his urge to come out. When his beloved piano teacher Gebhard Weber plans to leave the city, the young man is heartbroken. The only person in whom he can confide his feelings is his best friend Jiao. After a failed audition, Sasha swears never to play piano again, but a consoling telephone call from Gebhard changes his mind – and causes a turn of events. The next morning all secrets are exposed and only his brother’s intervention prevents Sasha’s father Vlado from shooting Gebhard dead. But the gun still goes off...
Awards
Audience Award - Side by Side LGBT IFF 2013, Tomsk
Best Film - Costa del Sol GLBT FF 2011,
Best Actress (Zeljka Preksavec) - Festival de la Luna Valencia 2011,
Special Mention (Best Director) - Outview FF Athens 2011,
Best Film - Festival del Sol Tenerife GLFF 2011,
Best Film - Zinegoak Bilbao GLFF 2011,
Audience Award - Mezipatra GLFF 2010,
German Film Advancement Award for the Best Sound and Music Design (Peter Aufderhaar) - Hof IFF 2010
Festivals
World Premiere: Frameline 2010
Cast & Crew
With: Saša Kekez, Željka Preksavec, Pedja Bjelac, Jasin Mjumjunov, Yvonne Yung-Hee, Tim Bergmann
Production: Eastart Pictures Productions
Dennis Todorović
Dennis Todorović was born in Ellwangen in 1977. He studied film at the ARTTS International in Bubwith, England. Following graduation, he received a grant and moved to Prague, where he workd in film and TV production for three years. After returning to Germany, he studied direction at International Film School in Cologne from 2002 -2005. His graduation film "Amor Fati" was screened at the 2006 Locarno IFF and was also nominated for a First Steps Award. In 2007, he attended the master class at the Andrzej Wajda Film School in Warsaw.
The following year, he joined the Sarajevo Talent Campus and the Berlinale Talent Campus, where he developed the script for his first feature-length film "Sascha". Together with Ewa Borowski, he also founded the production company "eastart pictures", which focuses on international co-productions. "Sascha", a tragicomic love story about a gay teenager facing his comig-out, finally premiered at the 2010 San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and was released theatrically in Germany in March 2011.
