Alex Karpovsky on Returning to Filmmaking (and Maybe ‘Girls’) After More Than a Decade Away

Alex Karpovsky has returned to filmmaking with Riptides, his first feature in 14 years. The low-budget comedy marks a return to the independent films he made before Girls brought him wider recognition as an actor, while Lena Dunham’s announced revival of the series adds a coincidental sense of a full circle.

Set in Sayulita, Mexico, Riptides follows an American hotel manager who becomes entangled with a self-help author and his daughter after a tragedy creates an opportunity to change his life. Karpovsky, 51, said earlier ultra-low-budget films were exhausting and that he lacked the drive to make another feature for years; his later acting work included Homecoming, Nobody Wants This and several Coen brothers films. The new film premiered at New/Next Film Festival and is due to screen at Indie Memphis.