Franco-Iranian director Marjane Satrapi indicated this Monday that she had “declined” the Legion of Honor, in order to “align” her “acts” with her “convictions.”
Franco-Iranian director Marjane Satrapi indicated on Instagram this Monday, January 13, “declining” the Legion of Honor, denouncing “a hypocritical attitude of France towards Iran” particularly in the allocation of visas.
“This decision is based on principles that are dear to me and on my attachment to my birthplace, Iran. I cannot ignore what I perceive as a hypocritical attitude of France towards Iran which forged the other part of my identity”, wrote the author of Persepolis.
“My desire to align my actions with my convictions”
The latter, who arrived in France in 1994, then was naturalized in 2006, was promoted to the rank of knight of the Legion of Honor last July.
A decoration that she decided to “decline” because of its “principles”, she explains in a letter addressed to the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, published on her Instagram account this Monday evening.
“I can no longer see the children of Iranian oligarchs coming to spend vacations in France, or even getting naturalized while young dissidents have difficulty obtaining even a tourist visa to finally see what the country of enlightenment and human rights looks like. the man,” continued the 55-year-old comic book author.
“For a while, I have really struggled to understand France's policy towards Iran,” she continues, regretting that “young freedom-loving Iranians, dissidents, artists, are are refused visas”, including tourist visas, while children of “Iranian oligarchs” “walk around Paris as in Saint-Tropez without this posing any problem”.
“I would like to emphasize that my refusal is in no way an act of contempt towards this institution or the values it embodies. It is just my desire to align my actions with my convictions,” justified the statement. Franco-Iranian artist.
She is not the first to refuse the Legion of Honor. For example, the former Minister of Justice Éric Dupont-Moretti refused this distinction in 2013, just like Brigitte Bardot or the comedian Guy Bedos.
