Strand Releasing has acquired all US rights to Dennis Todorovic’s gay coming-of-age tale Sasha.

Strand’s Jon Gerrans brokered the deal with Nadja Jumah of Berlin-based sales company m-appeal and the company plans an early 2011 release.

Sasha tells of a young piano student who defies his homophobic father when he falls in love with his teacher. Sasa Kekez and Tim Bergmann star and Ewa Borowski produced.

The film played in official selection at the Frameline Festival and the San Francisco International LGBT film festival and will screen at Outfest in Los Angeles in July.

“We very proud to be handling Mr Todorovic’s film and am thrilled to be able to introduce his work to an appreciative audience,” Strand’s Marcus Hu said.

Sasha is my debut feature, a story I simply had to tell,” Todorovic said. “My characters have a lot to do with my own family, even though none of them is simply dramatised reality – their traits of character, their approaches to life, their flaws and virtues, their moments of lesser and larger cultural shock are the ones I know from my own life. Sasha, has become my declaration of love to and criticism of my own migrational background.”