Many of Marjane’s friends in Vienna are very interested in anarchist philosophy and idolize Mikhail Bakunin. She specifically notes the consequences of the 1960s sexual revolution (namely, the increasing availability of the birth control pill) and the increase in demand for recreational drugs like cannabis, heroin, and cocaine. Satrapi lives in Paris.ĭuring her time in Vienna, Marjane confronts a Western world that, to her, seems impossibly modern and progressive. Satrapi also directed the live-action horror film The Voices, for which she and actor Ryan Reynolds won several awards. She directed the film adaptation of Persepolis, which was met with exceptional reviews when it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. After publishing several other award-winning graphic novels, Satrapi turned to filmmaking. In 2000, she began publishing her series of Persepolis novels in French, which catapulted her to fame. Finally, when Satrapi was 23, she returned to Europe to reside in Strasbourg, France. After four years, Satrapi returned to Iran, was married briefly to a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war, and obtained her master’s degree from Islamic Azad University.

Fearing for her safety, her parents sent Satrapi to Vienna to study in 1984 (this is when the events of Persepolis 2 begin). Over the course of the Revolution, many of the Satrapis’ family friends were killed by the various regimes that ruled Iran. They sent young Satrapi to a French language school in Tehran until the Iranian Revolution began in 1979. Her mother and father were liberal and politically active. As Satrapi explains in her graphic memoirs, she was born in Rasht, Iran to middle-class parents.

Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi