Probably one of the best films showing at this yearâs Out on Film is âAppropriate Behavior,â written, directed and starring Desiree Akhavan.
In all the interviews and stories about Akhavan, she is compared to Lena Dunham, the creator and star of HBOâs hit series, âGirls.â And much to Akhavanâs good fortune, she will be starring in Season 4 of the showâa definite milestone for a career poised to make her a household name in the next few years.
As for the Lena Dunham comparisons, Akhavan, 29, is more, well, flattered than anything else. But she also knows it comes with the territory.
âThere are a lot of similarities and thatâs the way you sell papers,â she says. âEveryone knows who Lena Dunham is. Nobody knows who Desiree Akhavan is. Sheâs a really supportive, lovely, generous artist. But at the same time, I donât see my male counterparts being compared to someone else.â
Akhavanâs bluntness and fearlessness when it comes to speaking the truthâabout sex, relationships, familyâare what make her a voice very much worthy of being listened to. Plus, sheâs just very funny, too.
âAppropriate Behaviorâ premieredâand was a hitâat the Sundance Film Festival.
âI tried to not imagine anything,â she says of the filmâs success. âI was just crossing my fingers to complete the film. This has been a really lucky year.â
In the film, Akhavan portrays Shirin, an Iranian-American bisexual living in Brooklyn trying to find anyway she can to reconcile with her ex-girlfriend while also attempting to teach youngsters how to make movies.
There are autobiographical pieces in the filmâAkhavan is Iranian-American, is bisexual, and the film was made as a way to help deal with the breakup of a girlfriend.
But itâs not based on actual events, she says.
âItâs inspired by experiences Iâve had or transitions Iâm going through ⌠but there is a distinction between the personal and the autobiographical,â she explains.
For example, Akhavan has never walked down a Brooklyn street carrying a strap-on dildo as Shirin does in the opening scene of the film. Akhavan also has never asked out a lawyer in front of her ex-girlfriend at a political discussion group as a way to make her jealous.
âI would never do that,â she says. âMy crazy alter-ego would do that.â
In the film, Shirin is also closeted to her family, something that drives her ex-girlfriend crazy. When asked how her parents dealt with her coming out, Akhavan didnât want to say too much.
âThere is so little I get to keep for myself. But it wasnât an easy process. Iâd rather not talk about it. I will say my parents are incredibly supportive now, they love the film, and are huge cheerleaders for me,â she says.
Akhavan is currently working on a TV pilot at the Sundance Instituteâs first Episodic Story Lab. The show, titled âSwitch Hitterâ and is planned to be a half-hour comedy, is about Leila Shahi, a woman who turns down a marriage proposal from her lesbian partner after coming to terms with her bisexuality.
Akhavan says it is time for society to have a serious (but set in a comedy) discussion about bisexuals.
âI hope to change [the stigma surrounding bisexuality] and further the dialogue,â he says. She chastises the mainstream entertainment industry who only allows âus to swallow only one specific kind of gay.â
âLike Ellen and Portia, or Cam and Mitchell on âModern Family.â Until we are flawed we are not actual people,â she says.
And thatâs what Akhavan may be most proud of with âAppropriate Behavior.â
âItâs the anti-gay film gay film. Itâs a gay film but it doesnât fall into any tropes I see in other gay films,â she says.
âAppropriate Behaviorâ
Tuesday, Oct. 7, 7:30 p.m.
Landmark Midtown Art Cinema
appropriatebehaviormovie.com