“I thought there was a drama in the fact that this teacher was leading a double life. The gay world was only emerging in the world of cinema at that time. Gay characters were very stereotyped,” Peck told RT.

As a director, Peck tries to stick to improvisation and does not like scenarios. His actors are mostly unprofessional, which creates an impression that you are not observing the events, but see everything from the inside – like in real life.

Peck first went to Russia in 2002 and immediately fell in love with the country. Since then, Russia has become a rich source of inspiration for him. No wonder that Peck’s new film is also connected with Russia.

“Now I’m working on a project about surveillance technology and people who work with surveillance. I want to play with the idea of an American traveling though Russia, a kind of American who is lost and ironically finds himself at home in Russia and Ukraine,” Peck said.