Acclaimed Iranian-French cartoonist and filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, whose tireless work in favor of women’s rights and author of “Persepolis,” has died at 56. Satrapi was a fierce creative force in and out of her field, inspiring young women everywhere to celebrate their autonomy and fight those in power who would otherwise keep them beneath their heel.
Tributes to Marjane Satrapi from the French presidency
“Her passing marks the loss of a leading figure of French culture and an artist devoted to freedom, whose work carried a universal message and earned her immense international acclaim,” the French presidency said in a statement.
President Emmanuel Macron and his wife “pay tribute to a remarkable artist who transformed an Iranian childhood into a universal fable,” the statement said.
News broadcaster BFM TV and other French media reported Satrapi has “died of sadness,” a little over a year after the death of her husband, Swedish film producer and actor Mattias Ripa. In recent months, Satrapi’s social media had become a digital vigil to her late husband, with multiple posts honoring his memory and lamenting the loss of his boundless energy and comforting presence.
Satrapi is known worldwide for the autobiographical comic book and film Persepolis, a coming-of-age tale set against the Islamic Revolution in her native Iran. Recently, I crowned Persepolis as the Best Animated Film of 2007. You can read an excerpt from my piece below, or watch the video version (the better way) posted above.
Satrapi’s Persepolis is a masterpiece
Based on the autobiographical, multi-award-winning graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis is a powerful animated adaptation telling the coming-of-age story of a young girl during the Islamic Revolution. Presented using a combination of color and black-and-white, Persepolis is an impactful tale of resistance, radicalization, and rehabilitation in an unjust world suffering under the crushing weight of old beliefs, political turmoil, and a desire to break free of the chains that bind us.
Marjane, with her insatiable lust for knowledge, explores her world through acts of rebellion, the rabble-rousing grooves of heavy metal, and a complicated relationship with her god that’s just as perplexed by the world as she is. Throughout the film, Marjane attempts to navigate a broken society on her own terms while pondering her familial trauma with a mind that’s both open and resistant to old ways. Persepolis is a beautiful, meticulous depiction of the human spirit, with Marjane’s journey inspiring those who want to carve their own path in a world that’s terrified to move beyond the confines that keep it rooted in past mistakes and traditional ideologies.
Rest in power, Ms. Satrapi. You meant the world to many, and we will miss you.
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