ICH LIEBE

about ICH LIEBE

The true story of a teacher who, defying all social taboos, falls in love with his 15-year-old student. I LOVE delves into the depths of human inner needs, asking whether forbidden thoughts alone can be considered actions and whether every person has the right to be loved.

After years of private isolation, during which his only human contact outside of school consists of paid phone calls with an anonymous young man via a sex hotline, history and theater teacher Dietmar Hecht meets a student in his theater class who turns his life upside down. The inwardly tormented Immanuel recognizes the person behind the teacher's facade, seeing an artist, a mentor, and a friend in him. The two become close confidants, the student shares his most intimate thoughts with his teacher, and Dietmar feels a hope sprouting that he had already declared dead. All his life, he has been attracted to young men, a forbidden desire, desires that almost destroy him psychologically. He has never loved or been loved, and now here is this young man, beautiful and intelligent, who sees something in him. A friend, perhaps even more? Dietmar senses how unhappy Immanuel is and invites him to visit him in Tunisia during the summer holidays. Full of anticipation, Dietmar travels ahead, indulging in dreams and fantasies, exploring beaches and culture, so that he can offer Immanuel something in his gray life. But the boy does not come, and Dietmar sinks into self-hatred. In a whirlpool of despair, desire, and the heat of Tunisia, he has to ask himself whether his forbidden dreams and desires, driven by the boy's invitation, have destroyed his last chance to be loved. Even if only as a friend.

ICH LIEBE tells the true story of Dietmar Hecht, played by Alexander Peiler, who in real life was the boy Dietmar fell in love with, but also became a surrogate father to him, cared for him, accompanied him into adulthood, supported his family, and ultimately became the boy's best friend until his death. All this despite his own constant emotional turmoil.

The film does not stigmatize, but delves into the quiet, human, psychological suffering. It reads between the lines to reveal what is going on inside a person who did not choose whom he loves or how he loves, and therefore could never truly love.