DIGGING MY OWN GRAVE: THE FILMS OF CAVEH ZAHEDI
DIGGING MY OWN GRAVE:
THE FILMS OF CAVEH ZAHEDI
Caveh Zahedi, 2015
Catalog No.: FTF-050
Limited Edition Of 888: 120 Page Book | 6 Dvd's | 7" Record
The most comprehensive collection of filmmaker Caveh Zahedi possible with 36 films including:
A Little Stiff, I Don’t Hate Las Vegas Anymore, In the Bathtub of the World, Tripping with Caveh, I Am a Sex Addict, and The Sheik and I
Writings by Bill Brown, Arnold Barkus, Greg Watkins, Thomas Logoreci, Alison Bechdel, Amanda Field, Richard Clark, Britta Sjorgren, Matthew L. Weiss, Jay Duplass, Lena Dunham, Akira Lippitt, Don Lennon, Josh Safdie, Jay Rosenblatt, and Caveh Zahedi
7” vinyl record with songs by Will Oldham and Don Lennon
A Factory 25 /// Fandor release /// with support from: Media Arts Assistance Fund
CONTENTS
A Little Stiff, 1990, 83 min: Zahedi and Watkins re-enact Zahedi’s unrequited love for a UCLA art student
Dog Story 1988, 30 min A mother and daughter disagree about whether to put their dying dog to sleep
Epiphanies 1989, 7 min Unfinished abecedarium
Interview in Honolulu 2005, 5 min Patrick Park discusses his role in A Little Stiff
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I Don’t Hate Las Vegas Anymore 1994, 74 min Zahedi tries to prove the existence of God
Trip to Vegas 1990, 7 min The original roadtrip that the script was based on
New England Cable News 1995, 3 min News story on the occasion of the film’s ill-fated theatrical release
D 1997, 4 min A film about D. Montgomery, the sound recordist in Vegas
Making of Vegas Commentary 2003, 2 min Scenes from the making of the audio commentary
Audio Commentary 2003, 74 min Zahedi, his father, and his half-brother discuss the film 11 years later
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In The Bathtub of the World 2001, 80 min Zahedi makes a video diary, shooting one minute each day for a year
I Was Possessed by God 1998, 26 min Zahedi takes 5 grams of hallucinogenic mushrooms
Mandy’s Birthday 1999, 20 min Zahedi films his girlfriend for a day
A Day in the Life of Greg Watkins 1999, 18 min Zahedi films the making of A Sign From God
The First 5 Days of 2003 2003, 8 min Unfinished video diary
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I Am A Sex Addict 2005, 98 min Zahedi tells the story of his ten-year struggle with sex addiction
The Hotel Scene 2004, 15 min Making of the hotel room sex scene
The Ecstacy Scene 2004, 11 min Making of the ecstacy scene
The Mushroom Scene 2004, 11 min Making of the mushroom scene
The Wedding Reception 2003, 7 min Documentary footage from the end of the movie
Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You 2005, 3 min Zahedi’s acceptance speech at the Gotham Awards
Unmaking of I Am A Sex Addict 2008, 6 min Animated short about a film shoot gone awry
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The Sheik and I 2012, 104 min Commisioned by a Middle Eastern biennial to make a film on the theme of “art as a subversive act,” Zahedi makes a film that is banned for blasphemy
Plot for a Biennial 2011, 40 min The original film that was banned
SXSW Q&A 2012, 2 min Q&A from the world premiere of The Sheik and I
I Was Blacklisted by Thom Powers 2012, 8 min Zahedi’s public response to Thom Powers’ behind-the-scenes attempts to blacklist The Sheik and I
Didn’t-Go-Viral Videos 2012, 4 min The would-be promotional campaign for The Sheik and I
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I Was in a Film Starring Laura Dern 1995, 11 min Video diary shot during the making of Citizen Ruth
D’s Watch 1997, 2 min A meditation on loss
D’s Address 1997, 1 min Another meditation on loss
Snapshot Diary 2000, 1 min The Sundance Channel gives Zahedi a still camera to chronicle his Sundance experience
The World Is A Classroom 2001, 14 min Zahedi’s allegory about 9/11
Tripping with Caveh 2003, 31 min Zahedi takes mushrooms with Will Oldham
The Film Within the Film 2005, 7 min Yerba Buena Center for the Arts commissions Zahedi to make a film
Dimitri in the Mud with Turquoise 2006, 11 min Zahedi takes DMT
One Minute Racist 2007, 4 min Animated short that lost a “tolerance” contest
Dada 2009, 2 min Focus Features commissions Zahedi to make a one-minute film about his one-year old to promote the film Babies
You Have To Live Somewhere 2013, 4 min Found footage music video collaboration with Don Lennon
Video Letters 1987-2005 Zahedi corresponds with friends Gary Green, Jay Rosenblatt, Thomas Logoreci, Bill Brown, and Matthew Weiss.
PURCHASE
BOOK | DVDs | VINYL
PRESS
“His body of work at the end of the day will be like a lengthy Walt Whitman poem. It will be a ‘Song of Myself.” It will be one of the greatest poems ever written, because it applies to everybody.”
– Richard Linklater
“Caveh Zahedi can be summarized most simply as the Woody Allen of some parallel cinematic universe in which being awkward, funny, highly intelligent and neurotically confessional gets you almost nowhere.”
– Mike Boehm, LA Times
“The last best hope for American film.”
– Ray Carney
“Every topic Caveh touches — sex, drugs, politics (in short, the stuff of life) — becomes at once infinitely personal and explosively debatable. The films shock, offend and incinerate with wild ease ... Aside from the myriad of reactions you will have to Caveh and, therefore, yourself, you will also witness the most wild n’ woolly yet controlled/composed filmmaker’s touch.”
– Lena Dunham