Desiree Akhavan
″I´m very bad at almost everything, but telling stories is where I make sense,″ claims Iranian-American filmmaker Desiree Akhavan, whom au courant lesbians will recognize as the co-star and co-creator (with Ingrid Jungermann) of The Slope. That web series, in which she plays a ″superficial, homophobic″ bisexual Brooklynite, showcased Akhavan´s deadpan comic delivery and adeptness at capturing the overachieving insouciance of hipster millennials. At Sundance last January, she debuted her first feature film, Appropriate Behavior, which she wrote, starred in and directed. The autobiographical comedy follows her character, Shirin, as she tries to get over a past lesbian relationship and still live up to her Persian family´s tough standards. ″I make films because I have so much to say and to not communicate those things is painful. I make films because they are seen and can touch people I would otherwise never come in contact with. This is particularly important because stories like mine are usually ignored, and I strongly believe it´s important to be proud and honest,″ she says. Up next for this rising auteur, whom Filmmaker Magazine called one of the ″25 New Faces of Independent Film″? Appearing in the next season of HBO´s Girls. Stay tuned. -KL
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