Episode 72: Flee and Persepolis

Cinema in Context

Animated refugee biographies. Sarah Watt, Jeremy Downing and William Chen discuss Flee (2021) and Persepolis (2007). We begin by discussing Persepolis and our experiences of seeing the film, rewatching it recently and reading the comic. We discuss both films and their presentation of the refugee story and the cost of freedom, especially with both films' protagonists being separated from their families. We discuss the lesson learned from both films and how we can apply provocations to our own contexts, especially the internal struggles of the central character Amin in Flee and his journey with a key lie that keeps him alive. We talk about the pop cultural connections in the films, from Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Lee, Iron Maidan, Aha's "Take on Me", Blood Sport and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. We then discuss the sexuality presented in both films, with female sexuality in Persepolis and homosexuality in Flee. This moves into a discussion of how these films are accepted or rejected in different parts of the world and sometimes in surprising ways. We close our discussion with a conversation about the stylistic flourishes of both films, particularly their animation styles.