CANNES FILM FESTIVAL - IRAN DENOUNCES CANNES WINNER

A primitively animated black-and-white satirical feature about a girl's experiences growing up in Iran following the overthrow of the shah by Islamic fundamentalists has been denounced by Iranian officials after it won a top prize at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday. Mehdi Halhor told the Iranian news agency Fars that Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis presents "an unrealistic picture of the achievements and results of the glorious Islamic Revolution." Halhor, described as an advisor to the Iranian president for cinematic affairs, said that he was not surprised that the film received the jury prize at the festival. "Islamophobia in Western drama started in France, and producing and highlighting the anti-Iranian film Persepolis in Cannes falls in line with Islamophobia," he said. He called the presentation of the award "an unconventional and unsuitable act."

30/05/2007