Tehran, 1978: Eight-year-old Marjane dreams of being a prophet who will save the world. Raised by very modern parents and particularly close to her grandmother, she anxiously follows the events that will lead to the Revolution and the overthrow of the Shah. With the establishment of the Islamic Republic, the era of the "Pasdaran" begins, controlling the behavior and customs of citizens. Marjane, who must wear the veil, becomes a revolutionary. The war against Iraq brings bombings, deprivation, and the disappearance of relatives. Internal repression grows daily harsher, and Marjane's parents decide to send her to study in Austria for her protection. In Vienna, at 14, Marjane experiences her second "revolution": adolescence, freedom, love, but also exile, loneliness, and diversity.
Jury Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
"Animated films are rare that allow audiences to experience the difficulties of their creators' lives. Often, commitment to defending rights and graphic quality don't coexist. In this case, the combination is perfectly successful.
Marjane Satrapi has managed to transform the four volumes of comics in which she recounted, with pain and irony, her growth as a woman in a rapidly changing Iran and a Europe incapable of truly embracing diversity, into a quality animated feature film.
She also deserves another credit: she managed to escape the Hollywood sirens who wanted to seduce her with the proposal of a film in which Jennifer Lopez would become her mother and Brad Pitt her father. She persevered, and the result is a black-and-white work (with flashes of color) capable of recounting a female childhood and adolescence that is both common and different. Common because many young women will be able to identify with her journey of growth. Different because women in Iran are (for those who dictate and are dictating the laws) less Woman.
For once, let's be allowed a direct quote: seeing this young director unable to hold back her tears during a 15-minute standing ovation at Cannes was a measure of the difficulty of a life, but also of the need to never forget Springsteen's "No retreat, no surrender." (Giancarlo Zappoli)
