DELUSIONAL DOWNTOWN DIVAS at APF Lab and Online

Lena Dunham has an eye and ear for the mundane, intimate minutiae of everyday life. The sort of things that only you or your closest friends would laugh about. Yet somehow Dunham is able to channel that familiarity into her short works. The ability for viewers to connect so quickly and effortlessly to not only the characters, but also their environment, is part of what makes her films so endearingly comical. It’s as though the characters are vessels that allow us to laugh at ourselves, in some ways. Like how in Boring House (2008) a young woman, alone in a bathtub, whistles while she plays with the water, or makes mysterious groaning noises that she would only make if she were alone. Or like when an over-zealous Josh Safdie goes to put the dumpling in his mouth and accidentally drops it in the soy sauce. Or the spontaneous conversation behind the library stacks in Pressure (2006) in which a trio of college girls compare sneezing and an orgasm. And especially the micro-family dynamics of Dealing (2006) in which a mature-before-her-time tween daughter is an art dealer (and represents her father), while her teenage sister writes excessively angsty poetry that “no one understands.” All of these may be scenes from a movie, but they could just as well be scenes from our own lives, little bits and pieces from our own conversations. And it’s this quality that makes the movies so special, and such a joy to watch.

Dunham’s latest project, a series called Delusionsal Downtown Divas (2009), follows three young women who dream of art fame, yet have no idea how to achieve it. Produced for Index Magazine, it will appear on their website, in installments, beginning January 9. Also, from January 9-18 APF Lab (15 Wooster St) will be screening the film continuously from 11:00AM - 6:00PM daily. As an extra special treat, APF Lab has turned their space into the Divas’ actual apartment!

Also: view Lena Dunham’s other shorts at her website, Pistols Kill Ponies.