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Upon the Wednesday re-release of her film Persepolis, Franco-Iranian Director Marjane Satrapi reflected on recent protests in her native Iran, praising the younger generation’s emerging “culture of democracy.” Known for her careful choice of words and timing, Satrapi is now filled with hope for her homeland. This optimism stems from the public response to the wrongful death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish Iranian woman who was detained by the morality police for allegedly breaching the country’s strict dress code for women. This event in September 2022 sparked a wave of protest that was brutally suppressed by the authorities.
Satrapi notes a stark difference in the reaction of the current generation compared to hers and that of her parents, both of whom endured the tumultuous years of revolution and war. Maintaining regular contact with Iranian youth, she recognizes that “democracy is, first and foremost, a culture. A culture my generation did not have. A culture that they possess, primarily because they grew up with the Internet, with global communication, interacting with their peers, and dealing with contemporary issues.”
Persepolis, an adaptation of her graphic novel and Jury Prize winner at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007, tells Satrapi’s personal story, shedding light on the repression under the Shah’s regime and the arrests and executions that followed the Islamic Revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini. As a young teenager, she was forced into exile, living alone first in Austria and then France.
According to Satrapi, “It needed a new generation, one that was born under these leaders and did not experience the traumas. They can make a difference because they do not fear them; they have grown up with them.” However, she cautions that change will take time. “In ten months, a regime that’s been entrenched for 44 years won’t simply collapse, especially one that resorts to violence. But it’s going to happen; I am absolutely convinced,” asserts the filmmaker.
Nearly three decades after leaving Iran, Satrapi identifies with both French and Iranian elements within her, finding a better balance over time. She mentions having found her “method” to do so: “I am absolutely against communitarianism; I hate it. I have only two Iranian friends.” The director is opposed to complaints, stating, “I live in Paris; I can do whatever I want to do. Complaining in these circumstances, I find it very indecent.”
Satrapi does not rule out the possibility of making a film about her native country in the future, but not immediately. “Things need time to be digested,” she remarks, citing an unpublished draft of Persepolis, which she initially thought was “brilliant.” Upon rereading it months later, she realized it was “filled with hatred, with anger.” She laments, “I was exactly like the people I criticize, except in my mind, I was on the right side. My rhetoric, my thought process, what motivated me, was hatred, and hatred is never a good driver.”
With AFP
