A little over a year ago, the Young Iranian Mahsa Amini He died as a result of beating and torture Regime morality police Because you don’t wear the Islamic veil properly. less than a month ago, young Armita Geravand died Similarly. Between both deaths was followed by a spontaneous and unprecedented outcry by Iranian women, supported by many men, that went global. brutal repressive response By the Government, which detained, tortured, raped, killed and executed many protesters. Veil rebellion rose with the slogan ‘Women’s Freedom to Live’now the baptizing slogan collective comics coordinated by the filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, Depicting Iran after Khomeini’s Islamic revolution in the reference autobiographical graphic novel twenty years ago ‘Persepolis’ (2000).
In addition to the staff of 17 writers hired by Satrapi, French masters Joann Sfar, Coco, Pascal Rabaté and Lewis Trondheim or Iranian Mana Neyestani, two spanish, Paco Roca and Patricia Bolaños. They both talk via videoconference about how they felt empathy in their participation in the book, which arrived in the bookstores of Reservoir Books and Finestres (in Catalan) this week. There are already 45,000 copies in France alone Sold.
Who rules in Iran and how does it work? censorThe dangers of demonstrating against the regime, those executed, what it means to be arrested Evin’s sinister prisonScenes of humiliation, rape and torture to extract false confessions… are some of the topics this comic brings up.
After works like ‘Arrugas’ (National Comic Book Award), ‘Regreso al Edén’, ‘La casa’ or ‘The randomness of Los’, Roca is a master at using snippets of fiction to give events more emotionality. to conquer the reader, to approach ‘Dialogue of the dead’ The case of Moshen, one of those executed for protesting. “In Iran, martyrs were volunteers who believed they died for their country, but Masha Amini or Moshen unintentionally became martyrs for the planet, because both would rather have fun with their friends than become martyrs.”
Roca also wrote another comic book called ‘Mujer Vida Libertad’. ‘Revolt in the 20’. “It tells me that women who had difficulty getting into university rebelled, just like girls in schools. They told me about discrimination by separating boys from girls, about not being allowed to eat together in the student cafeteria and going out all together and doing this in the university garden. These are small victories that represent a lot, and sometimes they lead to war.” sparks,” says the Valencian, who is about to publish an article. new comic (‘The abyss of oblivion’, At the graves with Rodrigo Terrassa Executed by the Franco regimein Astiberri).
caricature of Bolaños, ‘Spoiled children of the regime’ “He talks about one of the worst sins and the most hated sin by Iranian society, hypocrisy“. embodied by ‘Aga zadeh’, “Children of Iranian oligarchsThose who exploit the wealth they steal directly from the public. They are young people who use money to break Islamic laws, do whatever they want and have the audacity to brag about it by posting it on social networks. “What will happen when these rich girls see other young women killed for not wearing veils and at feminist revolution protests?” asks the Brooklyn-based illustrator.
In addition to explaining to the West everything surrounding the veil revolution, the comic Persian version, freely available on the Internet to reach Iranians, Roca says his goal is to “raise people’s awareness and send a message to Iranians that will let them know that there are many people outside their country who are with them and supporting their fight for freedom.”
The illustrator agrees. “The Iranians have no voice, if they show that they will face retaliation, many have died at the hands of the regime, which covers up information with lies and prevents it from spreading. So we need to shed light on what’s going on. And we need to tell those stories so that what’s going on there in Iran isn’t diluted by new conflicts that are emerging, like Ukraine and now Gaza.” .Because a year ago, although everyone was talking about Amini, no one is talking about Amini, that he was killed a year ago, or that they imprisoned the two journalists and the Nobel Peace Prize winner (Narges Mohammadi) who exposed Amini’s case.”
To do this, 17 writers served as screenwriters. three expertstwo Iranians –political scientist Farid Vahid And historian and former political prisoner Abbas Milani- and french Jean-Pierre Perrin, who was a ‘Libération’ correspondent for years, They declared that they had given them all the necessary information and documents. “Through the language of the comic and the different voices, it allows the message to penetrate in another way and invites further reflection,” says Bolaños. Roca concludes: “You never know how much a book can help change things. Social changes come from the bottom up.”