Content warning: This movie contains sensitive material

"A few years ago I was displaced from the country I lived in, due to wars that are nothing to do with me and are out of my control. I was forced to travel for many months until I managed to end up in a country so completely different from my own that I never knew how I could see it as a home. Until one day I met a man."

So goes one of the most unusual confessions received by Erika Lust on XConfessions.com. Inspired by the deeply moving and brave story of a gay Syrian refugee arriving in Germany, Erika passed the confession on to the prolific, fantastic and controversial director Bruce LaBruce, to direct XC's first gay film. 

A Syrian refugee is living in Germany when he stumbles across a poetry reading. Not understanding each other's language, they nevertheless share a moment of recognition, of desire, from across the room. Too shy to approach any further, the young man walks away. But that won't be the last time they meet...

Brutal, gentle, sexy, romantic and earth-shatteringly moving, this film is an exploration of how our differences can become our similarities; how in a world being turned upside down, love and desire are still the strongest forces of all.

"Now the phrase Refugees Welcome has an entirely new meaning for me."

Cast & Crew

Director: Bruce LaBruce

Photographer: Alexa

Performers: Jesse Charifvon Roháč

Erika Lust Erika Lust