African Journey: Jason Blicker's Boyfriend

The six-episode Canadian miniseries African Journey (1989, broadcast in the U.S. on Wonderworks in 1990) stars Jason Blicker as 16-year old hockey star Luke Novak, who travels to Zimbabwe with his engineer father.

He bonds with the teenage Themba (Pedzisai Sithole), who is shy, passive, and rather feminine in mannerisms.  They handle some catastrophes, like a broken village pump (a big problem when there is no water for miles around), a mine collapse, and poachers (resulting in a kidnapping and rescue.  One expects them to collapse teary-eyed into each  other's arms.

But it's all a tease: in the second part of the miniseries (released as African Journey 2), Themba is all but absent, and his sister takes over, getting seriously ill so Jason can ride his dirtbike to the nearest hospital to get medicine, and fall in love with her.

Still, the first three episodes provided a rare Westerner-African homoromantic bond, as well as the remarkable sight of Jason Blicker's muscular torso as he rides his dirtbike with his shirt off (the VHS quality was too poor to transfer, but it's striking).

It's never been released on DVD, but yoou can get used VHS tapes on Amazon.

Jason Blicker, who was nowhere near age 16, starred in the gay-themed movie As Is in 1986 and in a gay-themed episode of the Canadian teen series Hangin' In (1986).  Since 1990 he's had supporting roles in many movies and tv programs, both in Canada and the U.S., but he is a private person, almost anonymous, giving few interviews and revealing little information about his life.

According to his Facebook page, he likes yoga, Russian martial arts, Stonefox Jewelry Originals, and Yoav Deckelbaum Desserts