Documentary "I'm a Sex Addict" now on DVD

For anyone who may be spending their spare time watching hours of porn, waiting to see if a certain woman comes by a particular street corner at 3 a.m., or likes to fly to Amsterdam for other reasons besides visiting the Van Gogh Museum, you can now see the exploits of another sex addict as experimental documentary filmmaker Caveh Zahedi puts all of his experiences into his surreal film "I'm a Sex Addict." The film, which failed to garner a theatrical release in spite of critical acclaim in some circles, is now out on DVD through IFC Films, as of Sept. 12.

Amazingly enough, I saw this film at a special screening at the Grandin Theatre in my hometown of Roanoke, Va.! Jake Mahaffy, then a professor at Hollins University, arranged for Zahedi to come to Roanoke in November of 2005 (has it really been close to a year!) where he showed this film.

I found "I'm a Sex Addict" to be rather intriguing, but I would have preferred some more 'distance,' as the film is a personal narrative documentary- the kinds which Michael Moore and North Carolinian Ross McElwee of "Sherman's March" fame have made famous. As it is, the film is told exclusively from Zahedi's perspective and one questions how those around him, including the women he loved, felt about his exploits.

To promote the film, Zahedi wrote an interesting piece in the current issue of "Film Comment." It features excerpts from his diary about the experience of trying to get his film some very necessary publicity.

In a passage dated Feb. 17, 2005, Zahedi states that the second review of "...Addict" appeared in "Variety." It was a less than flattering review by Debroah Young in which the critic stated that Zahedi had defined his own sub-genre of screen narcissism.

Zahedi responded in his diary by saying that Young's comments were highly annoying. He added that he has been accused of narcissism in the past, but the charge seems exasperating to him since his film makes a delibertate effort to 'if anything, exaggerate (Zahedi's) character defects.'

You can be the judge by watching "I'm a Sex Addict" for yourself. The web site for IFC films is (I believe) www.ifcfilms.com

If you live in the Roanoke, Va., area, and want to bring "...Addict" back for an encore, you can always call my friend Jason Garnett, general manager of the Grandin. Perhaps, they can arrange to show "I'm a Sex Addict"  for a midnight screening of the film the same day they show "Fox and the Hound" at 10 a.m. for the kids, and get the two films mixed up!

Lastly, I, Tilly Gokbudak-if I can be narcissistic- want to sincerely thank everyone for logging onto my blog. As of Sept. 21, this blog will be one-year old. There have been 92 entries and close to 700 hits so far.

My friend Tom Angleberger, who is a columnist for "The Roanoke Times," has suggested  that I should make my blog more 'sexy' by perhaps adding a podcast of a chainsaw juggler or something. I do have a good friend Blake Lipcomb who has juggled hammers, but that isn't really what the kids want to see.* Perhaps, one day if I become as computer-savvy as my brother-in-law Matthew Lovell in Dogville, Co.**, I may have to look into that.

Incidentally, my brother-in-law Matt and my sister Lale recently adopted two pit bulls into their home and I understand they get along quite well with their cats, Flash and Whizzo*** 

*-Alas, Blake dropped a hammer on his head last week, and I am told he may now have amnesia.

**-Dogville, Co., is an all-too obvious nod, nod, wink, wink to all my film buff pals.

**-See my blog entry about the Guatemalan babies!