--- name: "Desiree Akhavan" canonical: "https://film.one/person/desiree-akhavan" fi1m_id: "desiree-akhavan" imdb_id: "nm3034178" tmdb_id: 1285174 wikidata_id: "Q16147303" roles: ["Director"] born: "27 December 1984" reviewed_on_fi1m: 3 average_as: "director" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-10-07T17:46:23.808837+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Desiree Akhavan ## Identity Desiree Akhavan - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/desiree-akhavan - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** desiree-akhavan - **IMDb ID:** nm3034178 - **TMDB ID:** 1285174 - **Wikidata ID:** Q16147303 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiree_Akhavan, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16147303, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3034178/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1285174 Director. Born 27 December 1984 in New York City, New York, USA. ## Details - **Work:** Director - **Born:** 27 December 1984, New York City, New York, USA - **Active:** 2012–present - **Also known as:** Desiree Akhaven, 戴思睿·阿卡万 - **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 2 acting, 1 directing - **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 80 (2), 2020s 83 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desiree_Akhavan, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16147303, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3034178/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1285174 ## Streaming the US now - **HBO Max:** [*Hacks*](https://film.one/tv/hacks.md) (83) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Desiree Akhavan > Desiree Akhavan finds dry comedy in people struggling to say what they want, especially when desire comes with expectations about who they ought to be. We rate the frankness, and her willingness to let embarrassment remain uncomfortable. Desiree Akhavan keeps returning to people making an awkward job of explaining themselves. In *Appropriate Behavior* (2015), her feature debut as writer, director and star, Shirin is a bisexual Iranian-American woman finding her way after a break-up. The deadpan humour is a good fit for that uncertainty. The film follows the web series *The Slope* (2010–2012), co-created with Ingrid Jungermann, and establishes the frankness about female desire that remains central to her work. *The Miseducation of Cameron Post* (2018) moves to teenagers in conversion therapy, keeping a measured tone rather than delivering a lecture. *The Bisexual* (2018) puts Akhavan back on screen as well as writing and directing, with bisexuality as its subject. Producer and co-writer Cecilia Frugiuele is another recurring collaborator. Across these works, the interest is in people discovering that the available answers do not necessarily explain their own lives, particularly when adults are supposed to be supplying them. In *Hacks* (2021), Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder are excellent as two women who make a difficult job harder for each other. We found their scenes together moving because the comedy makes that difficulty matter. It is a funny, rewarding series, though the writing sometimes presses their generational differences too hard. We are more interested in what these women do to each other than in what generation each is meant to represent. Akhavan’s interest in awkward company makes her a sensible fit, but an episodic directing credit is not grounds for attributing either the performances or the programme’s weaknesses solely to her. Her television directing also includes *Tiny Beautiful Things* (2023) and *Overcompensating* (2025). We would be particularly curious about another work she writes as well as directs, because her choice of subject is part of what interests us. Female desire receives frank, unembarrassed attention in her work, even when the people experiencing it are anything but comfortable. Begin with *Hacks* for Smart and Einbinder, allowing a little patience for the writing when it insists on explaining their differences. ## Biography Desiree Akhavan is an American filmmaker, writer and actress. She was born on 27 December 1984 in New York City and studied film and theatre at Smith College before completing a graduate degree in film directing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She wrote, directed and starred in the feature *Appropriate Behavior* (2014). Akhavan directed *The Miseducation of Cameron Post* (2018), which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. She created, wrote, directed and starred in the series *The Bisexual* (2018). Akhavan has directed episodes of the series *Hacks* (2021), *Ramy* (2020), *Monsterland* (2020), *Tiny Beautiful Things* (2023) and *Overcompensating* (2025). Her acting credits include the role of Chandra in *Girls* (2015) and Sara in *Creep 2* (2017). *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (3) ### Performed in (2) - *Flowers* (2016), Fi1m 78, as Carol — [page](https://film.one/tv/flowers.md) - *Girls* (2012), Fi1m 82, as Chandra — [page](https://film.one/tv/girls.md) ### Directed (1) — the average rests on these - *Hacks* (2021), Fi1m 83, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/hacks.md) ## Complete filmography (17) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Overcompensating* (2025), series, as Ronnie · Director - *How to Die Alone* (2024), series, Executive Producer - *Tiny Beautiful Things* (2023), series, Director - *I Love That for You* (2022), series, Director - *Hacks* (2021), series, Director — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/hacks.md) - *Monsterland* (2020), series, Director - *Ramy* (2019), series, Director - *The Bisexual* (2018), series, as Leila · Writer, Director, Creator - *The Miseducation of Cameron Post* (2018), Director, Screenplay, Executive Producer - *Tooth and Nail* (2018), Executive Producer - *Creep 2* (2017), as Sara · Director of Photography - *The Circuit* (2016), as Angie - *Flowers* (2016), series, as Carol — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/flowers.md) - *Appropriate Behavior* (2015), as Shirin · Director, Screenplay - *Girls* (2012), series, as Chandra — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/girls.md) - *Nose Job* (2011), Director, Writer, Producer - *The Slope* (2010), series, as Desiree · Story, Writer, Producer, Director, Editor, Creator ## Gallery - ![Desiree Akhavan](https://film.one/media/person/22426/gallery-fba023cc81e6.png) Desiree Akhavan — Teddy Award, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Desiree_Akhavan_2015-05-24.png/1280px-Desiree_Akhavan_2015-05-24.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Desiree Akhavan](https://film.one/media/person/22426/gallery-b7d319ec5e98.jpg) Desiree Akhavan — Image via TMDB - ![Desiree Akhavan](https://film.one/media/person/22426/gallery-64785596678a.jpg) Desiree Akhavan — Image via TMDB - ![Desiree Akhavan](https://film.one/media/person/22426/gallery-ec6eec60b04f.jpg) Desiree Akhavan — Image via TMDB - ![Desiree Akhavan](https://film.one/media/person/22426/gallery-cebaf588a939.jpg) Desiree Akhavan — Image via TMDB - ![Desiree Akhavan](https://film.one/media/person/22426/gallery-5928509b40e1.jpg) Desiree Akhavan — Image via TMDB - ![Desiree Akhavan](https://film.one/media/person/22426/gallery-599e2379990e.jpg) Desiree Akhavan — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/desiree-akhavan