I Am a Sex Addict (2005)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Caveh Zahedi

Writer:

Caveh Zahedi (writer)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy

Plot:

Autobiographical comedy about a recovering sex addict, about his obsession with prostitutes, and how that affected his relationships and his life altogether.

Plot Keywords:

Relationship | Prostitute | Marriage | Autobiographical | Sex

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Caveh Zahedi	...	Himself
Christoff Colas	...	Man with Beret
Rebecca Lord	...	Prostitute / Caroline
Lindsey Tjian	...	Anna
Jenny Pompor	...	Polygamy Co-Ed
Michelle Roesler	...	Polygamy Co-Ed
Melanie Bonne	...	Polygamy Co-Ed
Anastasia Vega	...	Oscar Presenter
Seymour Kramer	...	Movie Theater Walkout
Sylvia Grosneau	...	French Film Producer
Phillip Minnig	...	College Friend
Thomas Logoreci	...	Anna's Husband
Angelina Moysov	...	French Prostitute
Jacqueline Wright	...	French Prostitute
Heidi Dupre	...	French Prostitute
Alexandra Guerineaud	...	French Prostitute
Maggie Foster	...	French Prostitute
Paula van der Zwaan	...	French Prostitute
Vanessa Von Avalon	...	French Prostitute
Sara Granovetter	...	French Prostitute
Bruna Raynaud	...	French Prostitute (as Bruna Atkinson)
Katherine Bettis	...	Woman in Movie Theater
Valentine Fillol-Cordier	...	French Woman in Subway
Edouard Dorier	...	French Man in Cathedral
Olia Natasha	...	Hotel Room Prostitute
Howard Junker	...	French Doctor
Aaron Roland	...	French Doctor
David Klonoff	...	French Doctor
Tiffany Mink	...	First L.A. Prostitute
Jennifer Corey	...	Second L.A. Prostitute
Jeni Ring	...	Additional L.A. Prostitute
Alithia Garcia-Romero	...	Additional L.A. Prostitute
Angelica Porter	...	Additional L.A. Prostitute
Emily Morse	...	Christa
Steve Riggs	...	Party Guy
Aaron Cho	...	Party Guest
Roland Aujero	...	Party Guest
Cassandra Trainor	...	Sexy Woman in Museum
Laurel Lee	...	Sexy Woman at Gas Station
Mara Luthane	...	Newscaster
Jing Zhang	...	Massage Parlor Woman
Greg Watkins	...	Greg
Michael Fox	...	Freudian Therapist
Harvey Schwartz	...	Jungian Therapist
Harvey Schwartz	...	Jungian Therapist
Paul Cotten	...	Russian Therapist
Corinna Chan	...	Asian Masseuse
James Anne Farrell	...	Couples' Therapist
Katarina Fabic	...	L.A. Night Prostitute
Amanda Henderson	...	Devin
Michelle Sweeney	...	Paola
Stephanie Carwin	...	Italian Prostitute
Beatrice Basso	...	Paola's Friend
Lisa Di Costanzo	...	Paola's Friend
Roberto Marchesini	...	Paola's Friend
Pia La Rocca	...	Paola's Friend
James Stolich	...	Paola's Friend
Luciano Chessa	...	Paola's Friend
Lucia Filanti	...	Paola's Friend
Bunny Bunns	...	German Street Prostitute
Siobhan Wright	...	German Street Prostitute
Lisa Atty Ferry	...	German Street Prostitute
Jasmine Raff	...	German Brothel Prostitute
Cleary Clinger	...	German Brothel Prostitute
Erin Mahoney	...	German Brothel Prostitute
Julia Fuller	...	German Brothel Prostitute
Monika Hoyt	...	Black-haired Prostitute
Kathrynne McCurdy	...	Stripper
Arndt Peltner	...	Brothel Bartender
Natalia Tikhonova	...	Blond Brothel Prostitute
Kat Voldal	...	Black-haired Prostitute #2
Elrod	...	German Cab Driver (as Elrod III)
Jay Rosenblatt	...	L.A. Therapist
John Szabo	...	Sex Addict Speaker
Joel Shepard	...	Sex Addict
Mick Diener	...	Sex Addict
Edward Feldman	...	Sex Addict
Doug May	...	Sex Addict
James Gavin	...	Sex Addict
Ali Dadgar	...	Sex Addict
Matthew Gardner	...	Sex Addict
Daniel Gamburg	...	Sex Addict
Alexander Mazo	...	Sex Addict
Stamatis Marinos	...	Sex Addict
Michael Hoexter	...	Sex Addict
Brook Dillon	...	Sex Addict
Howard Besserman	...	Sex Addict
Jonathan Mitchell	...	Sex Addict
Peter Jacques	...	Sex Addict
Julian Camp	...	Sex Addict
Me Sook Ko	...	Woman (voice)
Barbara Speer	...	Woman (voice)
Ilaria Ventriglia	...	Woman (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Colin O'Herlihy	...	Sex Addict at S / A Meeting (scenes deleted)
Vicca	...	German brothel prostitute

Directed by
Caveh Zahedi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Caveh Zahedi		writer

Produced by
Richard Clark	....	executive producer
Moe Ghassemi	....	associate producer
Thomas Logoreci	....	producer
Greg Watkins	....	producer
Corey Weinstein	....	associate producer
Matthew L. Weiss	....	associate producer (as Matthew Weiss)
Caveh Zahedi	....	producer

Original Music by
Hilary Soldati

Cinematography by
Greg Watkins

Film Editing by
Thomas Logoreci
Caveh Zahedi

Casting by
Thomas Logoreci

Makeup Department
Debra Dietrich	....	hair stylist
Alicia Rose Lecce	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Bernhard Lhert	....	post-production supervisor (as Bernard Lhert)
Roger Scott	....	post-production supervisor

Art Department
Yael Braha	....	graphic designer
Yael Braha	....	storyboard artist
Anne Collier	....	artist: museum art
Paul Connolly	....	carpenter
Holly Fisher	....	storyboard artist
Michael Gilette	....	artist: bathroom graffiti
Irene Morris	....	graphic designer
Nienke Prins	....	artist: Rimbaud illustrations

Sound Department
Miik Dinko	....	dialogue editor
Miik Dinko	....	sound effects editor
Lawrence Dolton	....	sound designer
Lawrence Dolton	....	voiceover recordist
Abie Hadjitarkhani	....	sound recordist
Scott Koué	....	supervising sound editor
Ralph Leith	....	voiceover recordist
Jim Lively	....	dialogue editor
Thomas Logoreci	....	sound recordist
Eduardo Mendoza	....	voiceover recordist
Jeremiah Moore	....	sound designer
Jeremiah Moore	....	sound effects editor
Dave Nelson	....	sound designer
Dave Nelson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dave Nelson	....	sound supervisor
Greg Sextro	....	sound designer: Rimbaud sequence
Greg Sextro	....	sound recordist
Matthew L. Weiss	....	sound recordist (as Matthew Weiss)

Visual Effects by
Craig Chapman	....	visual effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Frazer Bradshaw	....	additional camera operator
Lisa Fremont	....	set photographer
Gary Green	....	additional camera operator
Emily Hughes	....	set photographer
John Kiffmeyer	....	key grip
Thomas Logoreci	....	additional camera operator
Monica Mejia	....	set photographer
Nancy Sarrouf	....	set photographer
Elina Shatkin	....	additional camera operator
Matthew L. Weiss	....	additional camera operator (as Matthew Weiss)

Animation Department
Bob Sabiston	....	animator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Felicity Gifford	....	wardrobe
Cindy Harlan	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
John Behrens	....	color corrector
J. Davis	....	editing consultant
Chris Dupont	....	additional editor
Edward Feldman	....	additional editor
Brook Hinton	....	color corrector
Stamatis Marinos	....	assistant editor
Sarah Marx	....	assistant editor
Miles Montalbano	....	color corrector
Jay Rosenblatt	....	editing consultant
Matthew L. Weiss	....	additional editor (as Matthew Weiss)

Music Department
Brett Chapman	....	music rights
Jonathan Hafter	....	music rights (as John Hafter)
Zoe Keating	....	composer: additional music

Transportation Department
Colin O'Herlihy	....	transportation captain

Other crew
Jason Bates	....	wigs by
Alex Bernette	....	wigs by
Ami Capen	....	production assistant
Liza Chan	....	researcher
Jamie Chow	....	location manager
Nicolas Duchemin	....	location manager (as Nicholas Duchemin)
Amanda Field	....	creative consultant
Alithia Garcia-Romero	....	location manager
Katie Gorman	....	production assistant
Sam Green	....	cross bearer
Spencer Hicks	....	production assistant
Chris Kelly	....	script consultant
Janey Kim	....	researcher
Wu Li Leung	....	production assistant
Ben Lieberman	....	script consultant
Thomas Logoreci	....	creative consultant
Dawn Nott	....	accountant
Penelope Pfefferkuch	....	wigs by
Fabian Redrovan	....	production assistant
Bradley Richie	....	production assistant
Rahel Smith	....	accountant
Greg Watkins	....	creative consultant
Traci Waugh	....	location manager

Thanks
Jonathan Marlow	....	thanks

Production Companies

• Reinventing the Wheel

Distributors

• Ocule Films (2006) (non-USA) (all media)
• IFC Films (2006) (USA) (all media)
• IFC Films (2006) (USA) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Cinetic Media  sales
• Rights Workshop, The  clip clearance

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Brazil:16 | Australia:R | UK:18 | South Korea:18 | New Zealand:R18 | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Paris, France

Company:

Reinventing the Wheel

Trivia:

Actress Rebecca Lord was deported to France mid-production, requiring a weekend dash to Paris to film her final scenes. The rest of the film was completed in San Francisco.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): The Italian prostitute says her fee is "100,000 lira." "Lira" is the singular form (like "dollar"). She should have said "100,000 lire" (the correct plural form, like "dollars").

Movie Connections:

References Private Video Magazine 14 (1994) (V)

Soundtrack:

My Baby Love Love Loves Me

An Original Voice Searching For Truth In Cinema

The Holy Moment- Caveh Zahedi's Quest For Truth In Cinema.

Although it has a lurid title that invokes B movies of the 1950's, "I Am A Sex Addict" is an original work of art that will challenge your ideas of films, reality, and the nature of relationships between a man and a woman. Caveh Zahedi is the director and star of this de-facto home movie, and to say he is a talented filmmaker would be an incomplete sentence. Zahedi is a performance artist, somebody who has the unique ability to flaunt his flaws with honesty and still be able to bond with his audience.

My first exposure to the mind of Caveh Zahedi (like many others) came during Richard Linklater's animated "Waking Life" (which I consider one of the best films of this decade). Caveh discusses Andre Brazan's Theory of "The Holy Moment", in which since everything is God- film captures God in every frame. This sort of chatter could be dismissed as philosophical bullshit, but that scene (where at the conclusion the two characters attempt a holy moment and turn into clouds) always resonated with me. Pictures, film, and video have been in our lives since we were born, so we have demystified them. But when you think enough about how amazingly strange the process of "capturing moments" is then you can truly wrap your brain around what I Am A Sex Addict is trying to accomplish.

The film (which is part documentary, part fiction, and with a dash of "reality TV" thrown in for good measure) opens up with Caveh in the rectory of a church beginning his confessional about his addiction to prostitutes. He is minutes away from being married (for real), and this decision to begin the story at this moment is one that will elicit groans of tastelessness and exploitation. But this is a perfect place to start the movie, since this joyful hope (what is more optimistic than a wedding?) of the present time makes us relax to what will follow.

And the next hour and a half or so will force you to abandon all preconceived notions of truth, sex, and relationships. And more importantly- what it is that constitutes film-making. Because "I Am A Sex Addict" uses every tool of the trade- there's still pictures, old home movies, animation, reenactments of real life events, dear-diary-type confessions, and the behind-the-scenes footage of the frustration of trying to recreate what really happened.

Is there a plot? Well, I suppose it is Caveh's search for a soul mate and his desire to rid himself of his prostitute addiction. Those two things are his goals, and they drive the film forward. I won't spoil what happens during this quixotic adventure, but I will say that Caveh travels the world and meets all kinds of interesting people (mostly whores but some really cool "regular" women) and the events are documented in an entertaining, comical, and honest manner.

"I Am A Sex Addict" is all about the obsessions and compulsions of its director/writer/actor, but it never dissolves into narcissism or solipsistic fare. How does Caveh accomplish this? First of all, the film was made with a light comic touch and never takes itself too seriously. Secondly it never devolves into sexual conquest bragging or even celebrates the idea of being a Don Juan-type character. And third, it is trying to be honest and real about sex- the scenes depicting the act might be blunt but they are never glorifying. If anything, when we see Caveh having an orgasm it only brings to mind the vulnerability and ridiculousness of how we are when we're naked and engaging in this passionate state.

This film received a very limited release, and the only reason I even heard of it is because I read an article about Caveh Zahedi in the SF Weekly (he lives in San Francisco). I believe it played at The Roxie (a great theatre in The Mission where I last saw a Hal Hartley film), but I missed it. Fortunately "I Am A Sex Addict" is available on DVD and you can put it in your queue on Netflix. I recommend you do so at once. It will make you forget (for awhile at least) all the crappy and formulaic films that are released by the major studios every week.

*This review and many others can be found on: http://amodelcommunity.blogspot.com/