Experiencing Interruptions?

Mono Generation

In 2005, Lena Dunham starred in a short video by Keil Troisi and A.W. Strouse. Endless problems plagued production—from the scatterbrained script, to the cast’s dorm-room partying, to Strouse’s seedy romance with Dunham.

Eleven years later, Troisi and Strouse have reunited to spawn “Mono Generation.” This poetic short documentary reframes their original footage into a nostalgic commentary about celebrity, the War on Terror, and mononucleosis.

  • Keil Orion Troisi
    Director
    Human Resources, Catch and Release
  • A.W. Strouse
    Writer
  • A.W. Strouse
    Producer
  • Keil Orion Troisi
    Producer
  • Lena Dunham
    Key Cast
    Girls, Tiny Furniture
  • A.W. Strouse
    Key Cast
  • Chelsea Greenwood
    Key Cast
  • Peter Ratzloff
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Short
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 45 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 1, 2016
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    HDV
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Chicago Underground Film Festival
    Chicago
    United States
    June 4, 2017
    World Premiere
  • Wayfarers
    Brooklyn
    United States
    July 1, 2017
    NYC Premiere
  • Dallas VideoFest
  • Los Angeles Experimental Forum

    Best Documentary Short
Director Biography - Keil Orion Troisi

Keil Troisi is a filmmaker known for "Human Resources" (2015), "Catch and Release" (2010), and regular collaborations with the Yes Men.

A.W. Strouse teaches medieval literature at the City University of New York, and he is the author of "My Gay Middle Ages" (punctum, 2015), "Thebes" (Jerk Poet, 2015), and "Retractions and Revelations" (Jerk Poet, 2014).

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

We made a crumby video back in art school. At that time, Greenwich Village had become a boring shopping mall, and the War on Terror had promoted a spirit of tedious conformity. Our video failed to break the tedium. But, in retrospect, we wanted to do honor to our failures.

Over the course of one day in January of 2005, the cast improvised scenes based on A.W. Strouse’s short story, “The Eskimos of Sixth Avenue.” Filming took place in Washington Square Park and nearby in my apartment. The footage remained unedited until 2016, when we decided to reframe the work as a poetic documentary.

Strouse’s monologue locates the footage within a period of cultural disillusionment, in order to elevate his personal, careerist resentment into a commentary on how the War on Terror robbed a generation of its encounter with destiny.

"Mono Generation" is about finally resigning ourselves to the fact that this generation only has one dumb ambition: to go viral.