This Oscar-nominated, multi-award-winning animation tells the story of the coming of age of a young Iranian girl, Marji. Finding a way to express your teenage self with all its contradictions, mini-rebellions and leanings towards Western pop culture isn’t easy in the middle of an Islamic revolution.

With the full implications of the mullahs crackdown on personal freedoms becoming clear, Marji’s parents send their feisty daughter to Austria. The story, then, splits into three parts, life in Iran, Austria and the return to Iran. The film provides captivating, sparky fun interwoven with a young persons perspective on her changing world which raises more serious issues for the viewer.

Persepolis is an autobiographical animation based on co-director Satrapi’s childhood and transition into adulthood. The film remains faithful to the much-loved artwork and treatment of Satrapi’s graphic novels in France, which was the first medium for telling her story.

The artistic loyalties are seen in the black and white, two-dimensional blocky approach to the artwork, which is as direct and free of fuss as Marji herself and immediately recognisable to fans of the original cartoons. Similarly the film received plaudits around the world for the simplicity and directness of the film, which taps into freedom of speech without ever becoming propaganda.

The film has a lot of ground to cover, but never feels rushed and anyone expecting damnation of her homeland will find no supporting evidence in a refreshingly unmessagey piece. Rob Mackie, The Guardian

France-based Satrapi, who co-directed with fellow illustrator Vincent Paronnaud, is a sterling example of what good advice Write (and draw) what you know can be in gifted hands. Persepolis specificity is what renders it universal. From Baltimore to Beijing, anybody who ever had a family, a government and/or aspirations for personal happiness should be able to relate. Lisa Nesselson, Variety.

Persepolis probably could have been adapted as live action, but I’m glad it hasn’t been. Satrapi can inject whimsy into a terrible situation because she and her partners can control every single thing we see on the screen. That kind of ability to handle every detail pays off in spades. Jay Seaver, eFIlm Critic