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Persepolis - Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud

Threat advisory: Elevated - Significant risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

A story of a young girl coming-of-age in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. It is through the eyes of precocious and outspoken 8-year-old Marjane that we see a people's hopes dashed as fundamentalists take power - forcing the veil on women and imprisoning thousands. Clever and fearless, she outsmarts the "social guardians" and discovers punk, ABBA and Iron Maiden. Yet when her uncle is senselessly executed and as bombs fall around Tehran in the Iran/Iraq war the daily fear that permeates life in Iran is palpable.

As she gets older, Marjane's boldness causes her parents to worry over her continued safety. And so, at age fourteen, they make the difficult decision to send her to school in Austria...

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film animation biography Iran girl Islamic Revolution Marjane Satrapi childhood religion France growing up Iranian

Persons of interest

Chiara Mastroianni .... Marjane 'Marji' Satrapi, as a teenager and a woman
Catherine Deneuve .... Mrs Satrapi, Marjane's mother
Danielle Darrieux .... Marjane's grandmother
Simon Abkarian .... Mr Satrapi - Marjane's father
Gabrielle Lopes .... Marjane as a child
François Jerosme .... Anouche
Arié Elmaleh
Mathias Mlekuz
Jean-François Gallotte
Stéphane Foenkinos
Tilly Mandelbrot .... Lali
Marjane Satrapi .... Author
Marjane Satrapi .... Screenwriter
Vincent Paronnaud .... Screenwriter
Marjane Satrapi .... Director
Vincent Paronnaud .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Persepolis official movie site
Persepolis film production notes
Persepolis QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS - Oscars) 2008: Nominated: Best Animated Feature Film of the Year (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud)
Annie Awards 2008: Nominated: Best Animated Feature, Best Directing in an Animated Feature Production (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi), Best Music in an Animated Feature Production (Olivier Bernet), Best Writing in an Animated Feature Production (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud)
British Film Institute Awards 2007: Won: Sutherland Trophy (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud)
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2008: Nominated: Best Animated Feature
Cannes Film Festival 2007: Won: Jury Prize (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi); Nominated: Golden Palm (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud)
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2007: Nominated: Best Animated Feature
Cinemanila International Film Festival 2007: Won: Special Jury Prize (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud)
César Awards 2008: Nominated: Best Editing (Stéphane Roche), Best Film (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud, Marc-Antoine Robert, Xavier Rigault), Best First Work (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud), Best Music Written for a Film (Olivier Bernet), Best Sound (Thierry Lebon, Eric Chevallier, Samy Bardet), Best Writing - Adaptation (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud)
European Film Awards 2007: Nominated: Best Film (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud)
Hollywood Foreign Press Association (Golden Globes) 2008: Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film
Image Awards 2008: Nominated: Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film
Independent Spirit Awards 2008: Nominated: Best Foreign Film (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association 2007: Won: Best Animation
Melbourne International Film Festival 2008: Screening
Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA 2008: Nominated: Golden Reel Award: Best Sound Editing in Feature Film - Animated
National Board of Review, USA 2007: Won: Freedom of Expression Award
New York Film Critics Circle Awards 2007: Won: Best Animated Film
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2008: Nominated: Best Animation
Rotterdam International Film Festival 2008: Won: Audience Award (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi),
MovieZone Award (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi)
International Press Academy Golden Satellite Awards 2007: Nominated: Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media
São Paulo International Film Festival 2007: Won: Audience Award - Best Foreign Language Film (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi)
Vancouver International Film Festival 2007: Won: Most Popular Film (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud)

NB: English, French, German and Persian language dialogue with English language subtitles
Studios and distributors:

Roadshow Films

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

I didn't like Persepolis because it is long and boring. The inhumane workings of theocracies are well-known in the West, the inhumane workings of the West are well-known in the East and the animation is pretty low-level (cf Waltz with Bashir).

But...

If you like biographies of people with difficult lives, if you like films that require your brain to make an effort and if you like "cultural" cinema then Persepolis is the perfect movie for you.

The animation, biography, Iran movie Persepolis is directed by Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud and stars Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux.