Persepolis
Film adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel about the growing pains of an Iranian adolescent in a loving and cosmopolitan family in Tehran.
This light and often funny film was awarded the Jury Prize at Cannes, won the KPN Audience Award in Rotterdam and was nominated for an Oscar in the best animated film category. In the autobiographical Persepolis, Satrapi recounts her childhood in Tehran. The fall of the shah is met with great excitement in the Satrapi family. However, the Islamic revolution does not bring freedom and prosperity, but only a new (and even worse) dictatorship. Marjane’s parents take their rebellious daughter to safety at a boarding school in Austria. Here, fourteen-year-old Marjane is introduced to the West, punk music and love. The gorgeous, hand-drawn animations lean closely to the childlike style of Satrapi’s comics, which we can also heartily recommend. Satrapi died in June 2026 at the age of 56, reportedly as a result of grief following the death of her husband.
Multilingual, English subtitles.
Written by M.V.