Marjane Satrapi awarded during Venice Film Festival

Cartoonist, director, screenwriter, and illustrator, Satrapi was firstly best known for her work on the comic book Persepolis, a critically acclaimed autobiographical comic novel in which she describes her childhood in Iran and her adolescence in Europe through a series of episodes from everyday life.

The New York Times recently included Persepolis in its list of the best books published in the 21st century. The list was compiled by consulting 503 authors, lecturers, and literary critics, who were asked by the newspaper to choose their ten best books published since 2000. It is interesting to consider that one of the most famous contemporary cartoonists drew comics for a very brief period, from 2000 to 2005. Apart from her masterpiece, Satrapi only produced two other stories, Cut and Sew and Chicken with Plums.

Persepolis was adapted into an animated film in 2007, directed by Satrapi herself and Vincent Paronnaud. In 2011, Satrapi and Paronnaud signed the live-action adaptation of her comic books Chicken with Plums, which premiered at the 68. Venice International Film Festival. Marjane Satrapi then decided to diversify her career with live action film projects exploring comedy and black humour.

During the award ceremony, moderated by Emiliano Fasano with speeches by Giorgio Gosetti, General Delegate of Giornate degli Autori, Gianluca Arnone, journalist for Cinematografo, and Fabio Ferzetti, film critic for L’Espresso, Marjane Satrapi spoke about her creative and professional path:

What I can tell you to describe me as an artist is that I have always tried to find a way to express myself freely and I did it, therefore, in my own way, and I started with comics. I naturally chose comics, because I can draw and drawing was man’s first language: I can draw and I can write, so the formula of comics was the perfect form that was able to combine this ability of mine, then I wanted a challenge and I moved on to cinema.

She then touched on important themes such as young people’s access to artistic practice, the role of women in contemporary society, and the use of humor, a constant ingredient of her work and life.

Vincenzo Cuccia, NABA Media Design and New Technologies and Set Design Area Leader, presented the award with this motivation:

The image has always played a central role in Marjane Satrapi’s life and career. A director, designer, screenwriter, painter, and author of children’s books, she has found in the image not only her voice but the instrument of investigation and introspection, a means of narrating the world around her, even more so of understanding it. In her works, fundamental social themes, such as the women’s issue, and a constant search for balance that is never a rejection of chaos, find their place. An approach thanks to which Satrapi unhinges and deconstructs stereotypes and clichés, without ever betraying or forgetting the charm and importance of her own roots and popular tradition. To this artist who has been able to carve out such a fertile narrative space, capable of building a bridge between the two worlds in which she has lived and lives, Cinematografo, Giornate degli Autori, and NABA, Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti present, the ‘Le vie dell’immagine’ 2024’ Prize.