Interviews

Interview: Desiree Akhavan & Emily M. Danforth – The Miseducation of Cameron Post

Published on August 2, 2018

Director Desiree Akhavan’s tender and funny second feature The Miseducation of Cameron Post won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance ’18. Based on Emily M. Danforth’s debut novel of the same name, this film inspires both reflection and conversation. And also controversy. Although it’s a top prize winner, the film is still unsold; Miseducation also played in Berlin, and is on its way to Tribeca. Both novel and film approach the subject matter with sensitivity. Danforth’s believable characters and dialogue help illustrate that there are imperfect characters on both sides of the argument—that even the anti-gay folk are worthy of sympathy. Gay, Iranian-American filmmaker Akhavan was perfect for this story: her Sundance debut Appropriate Behavior was also a study in sexual identity politics. We touched base with Akhavan and Danforth on the red carpet for a video interview below:

Dylan Kai Dempsey

Dylan Kai Dempsey is a New York-based writer/filmmaker. His reviews have been published in Vanity Fair, Variety, No Film School, Nonfiction.fr and IONCINEMA.com. He’s also developing a graphic novel as well as his own award-winning pilot script, #Likes4Lucas. He began as a development intern at Bonafide Productions in L.A. and Rainmark Productions in London.