The director and designer of Persepolis has announced that she is refusing the Legion of Honor due to “France’s hypocritical attitude towards Iran”
The Franco-Iranian artist Marjane Satrapi announced “decline” the Legion of Honor which was to be awarded to him during the month of January. The 55-year-old designer and director, known worldwide for comics and films Persepolisexplained his refusal because of his “principles” and his “attachment” to his “homeland of birth” in a letter addressed to the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati and published on his Instagram account this Monday, November 13, and confirmed subsequently to the AFP. “For a while now, I have really struggled to understand France’s policy towardsIran“, she explains on social networks.
Refuting any “contempt” towards the institution of the Legion of Honor, Marjane Satrapi however wrote: “I cannot ignore what I perceive as a hypocritical attitude of France towards Iran”. In a video, she specifies that her gesture is “a mark of solidarity with the Iranians, especially with women and with Iranian youth, but also with [ses] French compatriots held hostage in Iran.
Marjane Satrapi says she regrets that “young freedom-loving Iranians, dissidents, artists, are refused visas”, including tourist visas, while children “of Iranian oligarchs wander around Paris as in Saint-Tropez without That’s no problem.” “Supporting the women’s revolution in Iran cannot be reduced to photos with victims or celebrities during the commemorations of the death of Mahsa Amini,” she says in reference to a young woman arrested for breaking the code clothing of the Islamic Republic, deceaseddue in 2022.
“The refusal of the Legion of Honor is in no way an action or a thought against France,” assures Marjane Satrapi. “On the contrary, I deeply love this country that is mine.” However, she wants “France to remain true to itself”. “I will be honored when all the defenders of freedom are at my side […] When you have a people fighting for democracy (…) you have to support them.”