There’s something paradoxical about the way bans work. For example, if it weren’t for the shenanigans of the Iranian cultural chief enforcer in Lebanon, many Lebanese would have never heard of the award-winning cartoon that scares the mullahs more than American warships.
**Update: I’m getting reports that the minister of interior, a March 14 loyalist, has overturned the ban. I will therefore no longer include a downloadable version of the movie , but I’ll keep the online version below. More From Almustaqbal **
This is why, in the spirit of brotherhood in curiosity, and until our government freedom fighters release the hostage flick to the wider public, I invite you to watch Persepolis right here, right now:
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The beirut spring is a blog that is interested in Lebanese society and its politics. It started in February 2005 after the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
March 27th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Right on!!!
I am actually sending a thank you letter to Jezzini. His stupidity has ensured that the movie’s message is going to reach more people than otherwise possible…
March 27th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Hmmm…. I am not sure how piracy will help the cause here.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Ak
Piracy? :) I prefer calling it “Viral Marketing”, but I can see where you’re coming from so I’ll change the wording a bit.
But make no mistake about it. We’re actually moving Persepolis from the Niche market to the mainstream. I’ll bet you the producers will be more than thankful.
March 27th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Great idea!!!
March 27th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Another recent censorship case is the french l’express that was censored last week because it mentioned the french that helped the Jews during WW2.
http://jeanmarcmorandini.tele7.fr/article-13634.html
March 27th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I’ve heard about the Story on France24 - I’m glad the the Lebanese Government has overturned its decision. I see no reason for it to be banned.
March 27th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
If only these Lebanese leaders put as much effort in solving the real issues as they do in banning movies, boycotting bookfares, and begging thugs not to fire in the air….
March 27th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Don’t forget boycotting arab summits that are supposed to help solve our problems.
March 27th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Marianne,
I intentionally left that out because I personally don’t believe the Lebanese government has any business sending a delegation to a country that doesn’t recognize Lebanon’s sovereignty and that considers this very government they “invited” as illegitimate.
And let’s make no mistake: That arab summit is not “supposed to help solve our problems”. Only we can solve our problems. The Arab Summit is nothing more than a show for the sake of accomplishing nothing (other than boosting Assad’s standing as leader of Arabs).
But I digress, this is not really relevant to the topic at hand :)
March 27th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Thank you so much for putting this up! I hadn’t seen it before.
The little girl is a bit too Amelie, though.
March 27th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I wonder why “The Last Temptation Of Christ” by Martin Scorcese is still banned in manny countries?????espacially Lebanon…
Or is it when movies shows a bad immage of Iranians,then we consider the ban is bad,but when when it comes to others then we are totally silent,or we agree…..
I’m totaly against any ban,if it is banning Persepolis or The Last Temptation Of Christ…but when they banned the Last Temptation Of Christ i didn ‘t hear any objecting voice,same thing goes to the “Da Vinci Code”….
The suretee natinale has always been a Moron when it comes to censorship and banning…..
March 27th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I’m against the banning of Temptation of Christ as well as Da Vinci Code.
March 27th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
Bans almost Never work. See prohibition in USA…
March 27th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
I have seen this movie a couple of month ago and I think its brilliant.
People might say it is one sided, and I might say true since it doesn’t show any positive sides from the Mullah Regime (If there is any!!). But every single detail shown in the movie is very true. It just retells the stories of my old Iranian friend who is now living in self exile.
The movie itself is similar to George Orwell’s book the Animal Farm.
I am really happy that this movie will be shown in Lebanon for two reasons:
1- Censorship should not be tolerated at any level.
2- Simply it is a great movie, great art exists in it with visual effects, with great music. The plot is rich that includes many aspects in subtle ways.
The movie is very good and it deserved its nomination irrelevant of the current political situation in the world.
Fight censorship!!!!
March 28th, 2008 at 1:52 am
I don’t know for the Last temptation, but you can easily get Da Vinci code in Lebanon. I even saw Oriana Fallaci’s books at the Virgin Megastore in 2005.
March 28th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Completely unrelated, but something I thought you Lebanese bloggers might be interested in: Christian and Muslim Lebanese really are two breeds apart–and not merely for religious reasons–according to a new genetic study. Of course, these differences may not be that significant (though they do trump geographical differences), but the genetic history of the region is certainly fascinating. Contrary to previous thinking on this subject, it seems that both the Arab expansion and the Crusades have definitely left a mark on Lebanon’s inhabitants.
March 28th, 2008 at 8:08 am
Mustapha the ban has been lifted by interior ministry. As for Tommy’s genetic comment, I refer him to the studdy done by Dr Zalloua for National Geographic where DNA samples proved irrefutably that lebanese irrespective of religion mainly from coastal areas share the same phoenician DNA.
http://phoenicia.org/genetics.html
March 28th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Thank you Mustapha for putting this film on your Website. When I learned that the story is real (based on the biography of Marjane Satrapi) I was truly impressed. I hope it gets as wide a distribution as possible. Getting subtitles in Arabic and Farsi might give it a chance to make a little headway (in spite of censorship) in places that could really use it - like in Nasrallahland. I’m betting that people who understand English/French for the most part have positive opinions. For those who are interested check out Google for the movie, “Persepolis”. The applause goes through the roof.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
M-
Did you take the film off? It doesn’t work.
–MSK*
March 28th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
If you read the link above, you’ll see Dienekes specifically mentions the National Geographic study and some of the problems with it:
I have little doubt that the majority of the Lebanese gene pool predates both the Arab expansion and the Crusades, but these later contributions are not as insignificant as once thought and they do fall along predictable religious lines.
March 28th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Why the **** are we talking about genetics and DNA here? Why are there still people out there who think this crap matters? Race, religion, genetics…This is the kind of thinking that belongs in the past. We’re all Lebanese. I don’t give a rats’ ass about phoenicians and crusaders and whoever else mingled their blood to create me. I am myself. Defined by my actions.
March 28th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Heck, those studies you smartasses are quoting remind me of similar “scientific” studies commissioned by the Nazis about racial purity and the Aryan race.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
[…] I join other fellow bloggers in condeming this banning, specifically BeirutSpring who decided to put the film for all to watch for free until the movie was unbanned. […]
March 28th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
It isn’t about who you are in particular. It also isn’t about personal responsibility. It is just interesting to look back and see the component peoples that came to make up the modern Lebanese as a whole and how it came to pass. It’s part of history and the making of a culture and while you may not find those things very fascinating, I think many other people would disagree with you.
This isn’t about defining a hierarchy of superior or inferior races–the study doesn’t do that. Instead, it simply helps resolve a long-standing question: are the modern Lebanese the descendants of the Phoenicians, Arab invaders, or others and to what extent? And, like it or not, this is indeed science and not Nazi pseudoscience.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Well, at the risk of taking this thread way off course. I disagree.
I understand that it’s “interesting” to some. But it’s also irrelevant. The only people who find this information relevant, are those who will then use it for such slogans as “We are Phoenician, not Arabs” or any number of similar sloganeering (Christian, vs. Muslim, etc.)
My main beef with this line of thought is not the science of it, or the level of interest, but the fact that some of us still think in these terms, which perpetuates some of the very notions that have put us where we are.
In most of the civilized world, being “Christian” or “Muslim” is a matter of choice. It is a matter of belief. It is a PERSONAL choice you or I make in what we want to believe in. Tying in something like that with genetics is just a very dangerous way of labeling people, even if it’s scientifically correct, even if it’s “interesting”.
Why is it “interesting” to find out the genetics of Muslims vs. Christians and stop there? Why not go back to before the times of monodeitic religions? I’m sure some of us would be interested in finding out that we migrated to what is now Lebanon from the Caucasus, or from the African continent, back in prehistoric times. I guess that makes some of us “Africans” or “Asians”…I’m sure there’s also some Pharaonic blood in there somewhere. Which I suppose means something to someone…
Sorry. I just don’t get it.
March 29th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Well, I don’t see what it matters what Lebanese call themselves: Phoenicians, Arabs, whatever. Can’t they just be Lebanese and take some pride in their interesting and apparently complicated history? It’s a history that shows that they are Phoenicians, Arabs, and even a bit of European and not any particular group exclusively. I would think this study would discourage sloganeering because it demonstrates that reality is more complex than any simple slogan can account for.
And yes it does. I find the prehistory and the evolution of the human race to be very interesting. You aren’t at all curious as to where we humans originated from, who are ancestors were, and how we got where we are today? Would you prefer we not know or leave it to mythology, superstition, or unverified theory to provide us with explanations? I’ll leave it at that.
March 29th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Is the movie working for anybody ?
March 30th, 2008 at 2:19 am
A powerful movie, Mustapha. Thanks for posting it. The idea of using animation rather than actors was brilliant - it allows the screenwriter and artists to emphasize what is most important directly, and even to add ironies and caricatures that otherwise might have been missed.
May 4th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
it’s not working anymore? :( I missed the one chance I had to see it here…