Persepolis

Directed by: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi (France, 2007)
Duration: 95 mins
Starring: Featuring the voices of: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux
Dialogues: French, English, Persian, German
Subtitles: Greek

Marjane Satrapi's internationally bestselling comic-book memoir Persepolis recounts her girlhood in Iran and beyond, starting with the Shah being deposed and the rise of Iran's current fundamentalist Islamic state, and stretching through Satrapi's parents' decision to send her to school in Vienna, where she faced a different set of prejudices. Though Satrapi's experiences should be relatable to anyone who grew up as she did—or anyone who's suffered being a teenager anywhere—the cartoonist is no everywoman. She depicts herself as vain and shortsighted, and she divides her life into a series of short episodes that belong to her and her alone. Early in the story, Satrapi's uncle tells the pre-teen Marji about his nine-year imprisonment under the orders of the Shah, not to scare her, but because it's part of their family history, and he believes that such things shouldn't be forgotten.