Frame and Preparation
Sasha
Conceptual Frames and Background
- Migration & refuge
- Contemporary Germany
- Race and racism
- Islam
- Homosexuality
- Homophobia
- Intergenerational relationships
- Cross-cultural relationships
- Coming out
Introduction
Sasha is a tragi-comedy following the teen Sasha as he secretly grapples with his sexuality, attraction to his piano teacher, and family and social dynamics.
Preparation
Since Sasha’s family are Muslim immigrants from Montenegro in the Balkans, a brief history of postwar migration to Germany will be helpful to contextualize the story and Sasha’s situation.
Text and Discussion
- How does Sasha discover his sexuality and articulate it? What words, concepts, discourses does he use to define it and understand himself?
- How does religion inflect sexuality (and religious identity with sexual identity) and vice versa?
- How does the film portray Islam regarding to sexuality and gender expression? What are the implied value judgments made by its depiction?
- Does the movie thematize issues of race and migration regarding sexuality in contemporary Germany?
- What are the various different relationships in the film between older and younger individuals as well as ethnically German and people with non-German backgrounds? In which ways are they similar and different? What can this tell us about a certain image of contemporary Germany as multicultural?
Developed by Domenic Desocio.