Oscar nominations are out! In keeping with the spirit of the event, I would like to personally thank the Academy for its inclusion of the powerful and timely Persepolis, which has been nominated in the Best Animated Feature category.
The hand-drawn cartoon, directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, is adapted from Satrapi’s graphic novel of the same name. Autobiographical in nature, the film tells the story of Marjane, growing up as a little girl in Iran just as a revolution against the hated Shah regime is beginning to sweep the country. Through the story of her exile and return, we learn about how today’s Iran came to be – a history full of dashed hopes and personal and grand tragedies.
Persepolis is the perfect antidote for the current political climate that depicts people from the Middle East as mindless fanatics. The film is deeply humanizing, recounting how a people’s hopes for joy and love and respect and fun came to be smothered, but not extinguished, by theocratic rule.
PHOTO DIAPHANA FILMS