The animated film adaptation of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis has snagged the prestigious closing night slot at the upcoming New York Film Festival.  The French-made film will be shown at the New York fest on Sunday night October 14th.  Ms. Satrapi's Persepolis graphic novels have sold extremely well here, especially in the bookstore market, and a major art house run by the Persepolis movie, which won a (shared) Jury Prize at the Cannes festival, could result in considerable additional sales of all of Ms. Satrapi's graphic novels as a new larger audience becomes aware of their existence.

The New York Film Festival has become an increasingly important springboard to success for artistically ambitious foreign films here in the States.  Last year The Queen, Pan's Labyrinth and Volver all gained considerable momentum from their showings at the New York festival.  Sony has still not released an opening date for the Persepolis movie here in the U.S., but it is likely that it will open before the end of the year with the hope that it might be able to gain an Academy Award nomination for 'Best Animated Feature.'