Persepolis

Animation. Based on the well-known autobiographical graphic novel by the author, the movie focuses on Marjane, a little girl who lives in Iran in the late 1970s, in a westernized family. In these early times, the Sah regime and its abuses of power give Marjane contact with leftist political ideas. Later, with the fall of the Sah the revolution arrives, which makes another story appear, changing Marjane’s life and in general, all of Iran’s life too. This story begins when fundamentalists take power in an authoritarian way and the Islamic Revolution emerges, forcing women to wear a veil and imprisoning thousands of people. Marjane misses the advantages of the western world – call it punk, Michael Jackson, etc. – while she suffers the terror of persecution in her country. When she reaches adolescence, she is sent to a French Lycée in Vienna, and witnesses the historic ups and downs of Iran during those years; meanwhile, fundamentalism increases in her country, devastated by the war between Iraq and Iran.

Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969 in Rasht, Iran. At the age of 14, her parents decided to send her to study in the French Lycée in Vienna so that she could complete her secular education and to allow her to develop in a less oppressive atmosphere than in her country. After completing her primary studies she returned to Iran to study Fine Arts, but soon after she decided to leave for France and has been living in Paris ever since. In Paris, she met David B., a gifted cartoonist and illustrator, and came into contact with L’Association. Encouraged by David B., she created a comic book to reflect her experiences and her vision of Iranian society, from which the series Persepolis emerged at the end of 2000.

The work, published in four volumes, was a great success with critics and the public. Satrapi herself, with Vincent Paronnaud, adapted it to an animation film. Since 2011, Satrapi has directed four movies: Chicken with Plums, Gang of the Jotas, The Voices and in 2019 Radioactive, produced by Amazon and starring Rosamund Pike as the leading lady.

Presentation by Pilar Cebrián, journalist specialising in the Middle East and Jihadism, and author of the book "El infiel que habita en mí".

Special animation series against religious fundamentalism

Year of Production: 2007

Running Time: 96’

Countries: France and United States

Languages: French, English, Farsi and German. Original version with Spanish subtitles

Director: Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud

Cast: Voices of Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Gena Rowlands, Sean Penn and Simon Abkarian

Production: Xavier Rigault, Marc-Antoine Robert, Kathleen Kennedy, Tara Grace and Rémi Burah

Production Companies: 2.4.7. Films, France 3 Cinéma, The Kennedy/Marshall Company, French Connection Animations and Diaphana Films

International Sales: Vértigo Films

Main Festivals and Awards: Jury Prize in Cannes, and Audience Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Nominated for Best Animated Film at the Oscar Awards, to Best Film Not in the English Language, and to Best Animated Film at the BAFTA Awards, to Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globe Awards and to Best Film at the European Film Awards. Winner of Best Adaptation and Best First Feature Film at the César Awards, and of Best Animated Film at the New York Critics Circle Awards