As the clock ticks in a high school hall, a teenage boy mulls over the French exam paper in front of him, before his mind wanders to something he is finding even harder to express.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"I'm in love with Sam. I'm in love with my best friend," says Charlie to himself. He ponders whether he should tell his mate how he feels: "Maybe the best thing to do is just keep this inside and squash it."
The young character's struggle with his feelings is at the centre of a ground-breaking short film, The Language of Love.
Written and performed by student Kim Ho, 17, and shot at his high school, Sydney Grammar, the piece has resonated with audiences around the world.
Since it was released in April, it has been watched by more than 100,000 people on YouTube, been praised by the US gay magazine The Advocate as perfectly capturing the "wonder, fear and excitement of first love" and English actor Stephen Fry tweeted that it was "amazing".
"I'm really proud of creating something that can move people – and really humbled by that," says Kim, who has achieved all this while studying for his HSC.
The central character recalls being called a "poofter" in sing-song tones by friends.
While homophobia and bullying are significant problems in many Australian high schools, Kim says the response to the film's subject matter at his all-boys private school was entirely supportive.
"I never got any of the homophobic comments that I referred to in the piece," he said. "People have responded to the fact that I've written a piece that has been received well, rather than I've written a "gay" piece of work. My classmates have really just treated me the same."
Sydney Grammar principal John Vallance said he was happy for the film to be shot on campus. "I'm very proud of Kim," he said.
Kim developed the piece for the Voices Project, which is part of a young playwright development project, Fresh Ink, at the Australian Theatre for Young People.
After entering a shorter version of the filmed monologue in the competition, he was mentored by playwright Tommy Murphy over several months, and the final film was directed by Laura Scrivano.
Murphy says the film highlights the fact that even this generation of young queer people is still made to "feel lesser". But the story is much bigger than that, he says.
"It's a love story about an individual's personal courage to articulate that love for somebody else. It's also a story about how a boy, a young boy, finds the words to express inner emotion, and that failure to articulate true emotion is a really truthful aspect of most teenagers' experiences."
Kim's next piece of writing, an HSC project, is also likely to resonate widely with teenagers – but for different reasons. It's "a black comedy about the Board of Studies", he says.
The film was first released in April, predating a recent debate about private schools and same-sex attracted teenagers. On Sunday Fairfax Media revealed Sydney MP Alex Greenwich will attempt to repeal laws which allow private schools in NSW to expel and discriminate against gay, lesbian and transgender students.
Visit http://www.freshink.com.au/thelanguageoflove to find out more.
