Satrapi captured these experiences in the graphic novel seriesPersepolis, which she turned into an animated feature in 2007.
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Ive been called a liar and a spy.
Ive learned in life not to be scared, she says.
Marjane SatrapiSylvain Lefevre/Getty Images
We artists must be humble but doing nothing is worse, being indifferent is worse.
She would like to eventually make a film about what happened to her country under the Islamic Republic regime.
I hope everyone will go to court.
You cant wash blood with blood.
You need clean water.
Its not six months, but its not five years.
I was sent to the hospital for surgery out of necessity.
I was in a hospital bed for two weeks, under 24-hour prison guard watch, he says.
They handcuff and shackle sick prisoners.
News of the Woman Life Freedom protests, which broke out after his imprisonment, percolated into the prison.
We would receive the news via official and unofficial sources.
We would even secretly see photos of protests sometimes.
We were truly impressed by this young and defiant generations activities, he says.
Some of the young protesters who were arrested by the authorities were transferred to our wing.
We would talk to them to figure out whats happening outside.
There was obvious excitement among all the political prisoners.
Despite everything, Rasoulof says he has no regrets.
But we all know that such a political situation does not exist.
The regime is corrupted and dysfunctional.
This kind of cinema might not be what I like the most, but its my priority.
Remaking her life in exile was a struggle she recounts: Its like being reborn again.
You have to learn a new language, a new culture.
You have to learn everything from zero.
A few years into her time in Europe, Farahani toldThe Guardiannewspaper that she hated politics.
As a person coming from the Middle East, whatever you do, becomes political.
You walk, its a political walk.
You talk, its a political talk.
But sometimes, its just what it is.
Its not a message.
Its not a symbol.
Its just what it is, she says.
We were fearful, very, very fearful.
They are just fearless and courageous.
I look at them with a feeling of appreciation and awe.
I cant describe it.
It makes me emotional when I see their courage.
I got a phone call.
It was very complicated.
The irony is that Coldplay was the soundtrack of our teenage years, she says.
When I was 15 or 16, this is all we were listening to.
It was one of the most remarkable experiences of my life.
Making films and TV shows outside of this system is very hard.
We need to start talking about fund-raising, she says.
Thats what I am trying to do.
Holy Spiderwould have been difficult to make without his participation, she says.
He was so brave.
When I asked him, Why are you doing this?
Do you know youre taking this big risk?
I managed to finally do something important.
Anything that comes after I dont mind, even if I lose my life in Iran.
The diaspora community in Europe also needs help.
Its been years and years that Im working on it and I just cant get the budget together.
Its in the Persian language and there are no funds for these kinds of projects, she says.
There is this new generation of cineastes outside of Iran, now almost everybody is out.
We need this solidarity to find a way to make movies.
