Persepolis

The year is 1979 and overnight everythingchanges in Teheran. Eight-year-old Marjane,always safe and surrounded by her modern andsecular family, is suddenly forced to follow the -to her logic - nonsensical rules that are set by thenew, fundamentalist Islamic government. Shehas to trade in her sneakers and comfortabletrousers for a black robe. From inside her veil,we follow her life in the Ayatollah’s Iran: boysand girls are no longer using the same entranceat school, Marjane’s parents are no longertalking like they did before, and one-by-one theoutspoken adults around her disappear. Marjanedreams of being a revolutionary and makesplans for how to overrule the regime. Largescalepolitical oppression becomes surprisinglypersonal when told from a child’s perspective– the film is smart, funny and sincere unlike any other on the topic. This autobiographical storywas originally produced as a graphic novel andwas a huge success around the globe, especiallyin France, where it sold over 100,000 copies. Thefilm, which remains true to the black and whiteimages of the book, was awarded with the Jury’sprize at the Cannes Film Festival.