For Shirin (Desiree Akhavan), being part of a perfect Persian family isn’t easy. Acceptance eludes her from all sides: her family doesn’t know she’s bisexual, and her ex-girlfriend, Maxine (Rebecca Henderson), can’t understand why she doesn’t tell them. Even the six-year-old boys in her moviemaking class are too ADD to focus on her for more than a second. Following a family announcement of her brother’s betrothal to a parentally-approved Iranian prize catch, Shirin embarks on a private rebellion involving a series of pansexual escapades, while trying to decipher what went wrong with Maxine.

Appropriate Behavior earned Iranian-American writer/director/star Akhavan an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Screenplay. Akhavan is the co-creator and star of the award-winning web series “The Slope,” a comedy that follows a pair of superficial homophobic lesbians in love. She is often compared to “Girls” creator Lena Dunham, but Akhavan approaches her work from a different, slightly more diverse, point of view. She was recently featured as one of Filmmaker Magazine‘s 25 New Faces of Film as well as in Vanity Fair‘s “Persia in New York” feature about vibrant Iranian artists flourishing in America. Akhavan will also be seen on the fourth season of “Girls.”