Persepolis France's Pick for Oscar
Marjane Satrapi's Animated Film in Best Foreign Film Category
France has picked Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's Persepolis as its contender for the 2008 Oscars. Cue much gnashing of teeth from Tehran.
In what the Iranian government will surely see as another snub/international conspiracy, France has selected the animated film Persepolis to compete for the 2008 Best Foreign Film category at the Oscars next February.
According to Variety, the film was selected to represent France at the 80th Academy Awards by a committee featuring such French film heavyweights as Cannes Film Festival artistic director Thierry Fremaux and UniFrance president Margaret Menegoz.
The black-and-white animated film, based on Marjane Satrapi's award-winning graphic novel, is sure to be a heavyweight contender at next year's Academy Awards based on its headlines-making history.
Iranian Government Tried to Block Persepolis Screenings After Cannes Jury Prize Win
The movie, an autobiographical account of Satrapi's childhood during and after Iran's theocratic revolution, won the Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, sharing the award with the Mexican film Stellet Licht. This ignited a storm of protest from Iran's government, which called Persepolis "Islamophobic" and an attempt by France and the U.S. to destabilize Iran and its government.
The Bangkok Film Festival initially announced that Persepolis would open the festival last June, but later changed their minds, due to pressure from the Iranian government.
“The (Iranian) ambassador has requested that we reconsider the screening of Persepolis, and since this could affect international relations, we have decided not to show the film,” Chattan Kunjara Na Ayutthaya, head of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said about the decision.
Persepolis opened the Ottawa International Animation Festival on September 19th, and it will close the New York Film Festival on October 14th.
There's no word if Persepolis will also be nominated for Best Animated Film at next year's Academy Awards. It's unlikely if it's also in the Best Foreign Category, but Persepolis may go in to ensure that the Best Animated Film category has enough entrants to justify a full five nominees.
Iggy Pop, Sean Penn Joins Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve In English Dub
Chiara Mastroianni is voicing the role of Marji (the main character/narrator of the film) in both English and French language versions of the film. Legendary French actor Catherine Deneuve also appears in both versions, with actors Sean Penn, Gena Rowlands plus proto-punk rocker Iggy Pop voicing roles in the English dub.
Persepolis was produced by Marc-Antoine Robert and Xavier Rigault of 2.4.7. Films, with Kathleen Kennedy co-producing. Sony Pictures Classics is distributing the flick in North America.
Fun fact: Lead voice actor Chiara Mastroianni is the daughter of Persepolis co-star Catherine Deneuve and the late Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni, who was best known for working in Federico Fellini films like La Dolce Vita, 8 1/2, and Ginger and Fred.
Chiara also had a major role as Sophie Choiset in Robert Altman's 1994 film Ready to Wear, opposite her father.
