I Am a Sex Addict also functions as an insightful, entertaining guide to the world of indie filmmaking. The film is suffused with a self-deprecating, apologetic attitude towards its low budget trappings. In one scene Zahedi asks us to imagine the back alleys of San Francisco as Paris, because he couldn't afford to travel to France. A man then walks by with a baguette, wearing a beret. It's a wonderful illustration of his ability to turn a limitation into a joke, essential to survive in the world of independent film.

As the film progresses, though, Zahedi opens too many doors, broaches too many subjects. This surfaces as a problem in the third section in particular, which concerns his relationship with a woman named Devin (Amanda Henderson). In one jarring moment he reveals that Ms. Henderson, like the character she plays, is an alcoholic. Later he notes that Devin has since passed away from cancer. These are big revelations, stories in and of themselves. Their passing inclusion sends the mind racing in too many directions, disrupting the narrative's flow to no productive end.

In I Am a Sex Addict Caveh Zahedi plays the role of director as sharer, not as teller. Watching his film is an empowering experience, one that I hope will inspire people to pick up a camera themselves. Where reality television tells us that we can impose a narrative structure upon our lives and see ourselves as the star of our own movie, Mr. Zahedi reminds us that our lives are the stuff of art. It's the difference between settling for what we have and wanting to create something beautiful from the raw materials of our experiences.