Daily Variety reports that the Cannes-winning animated feature Persepolis was pulled from the schedule at the Bangkok International Film Festival at the request of the Iranian Embassy in Bangkok. The film was slated to open the fest on July 19, but organizers decided to put it aside to avoid an international relations issue.
Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis tells the autobiographical tale of a spirited Iranian girl who has to face the oppressive Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979. Co-written and co-directed by Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, the black-and-white, French-language film features the voices of Catherine Deneuve and Chiara Mastroianni. The pic attracted its share of political controversy at the recent Cannes film festival, where it won the Jury prize.
Persepolis was released in France this month. The English-language version will be distributed by Sony Pictures Classics in the U.S., with actress Gena Rowlands set to lend her to the dub. The movie is animated by French studio 2.4.7 Film and co-produced by The Kennedy/Marshall Company, France 3 Cinema and Sofica Europacorp.
