According to Variety, Iranian officials are not happy that the Cannes Film Festival awarded a jury prize to the animated feature based on Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis (see ''Persepolis' Wins Cannes Jury Prize'). Medhi Kalhor, cultural adviser to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said 'Islamophobia in Western drama started in France, and producing and highlighting the anti-Iranian film Persepolis in Cannes falls in line with Islamophobia.'

The English version of the French animated feature being released this fall will have Catherine Deneuve as the voice of the mother, Gena Rowlands as the grandmother, and Satrapi will do the voice of the little girl.