"Persepolis", directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, running time: 95’, 2007.
In “Persepolis” Marjane Satrapi transposes her famous, to a large extent autobiographical graphic novel onto the silver screen. “Persepolis” is an animated narrative about the early life and successive growing up of Satrapi, both as a human being and as an artist. Born in a radically conservative and war-torn Iran, the girl – initially instinctively and then self-consciously – starts to rebel against the status quo she experiences and falls victim to. Defined by Islam, dominated and appropriated by men, the world that little Marjane inhabits becomes with time unbearable. Thanks to the joint support of her parents and her larger-than-life grandmother she has a chance to flee and grasp the opportunity to pursue education in France and Austria.
Nowadays Satrapi is primarily an illustrator contributing to many respected newspapers and established periodicals. Her drawings are regularly published by among others The New York Times and The New Yorker. “Persepolis” was deservedly nominated for the Academy Award as the Best Foreign Language Film. According to many critics, the film should have won the Oscar that year.