Satrapi’s depiction of herself as a forthright, stubborn and fanciful child who believes she is the next holy prophet and later dons a headscarf to march around her house chanting, ‘Down with the Shah’ is utterly enchanting. But disturbing also, insofar that the views of those around her can easily translate into misunderstanding and cruelty.
Review by Lisa Williams

You could call it long conception, short birth. Garin Nugroho imagined Opera Jawa five years ago, but shot it in just two weeks. Production companies weren’t interested in the idea of a modern day opera based on Hindu holy text the Ramayana and set to the sound of gamelan music. But then Peter Sellars – the man behind the staging of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in the Trump Tower – decided to commission the film for the New Crowned Hope Festival. The festival, funded by the city of Vienna and curated by Sellars, commemorates the 250th Birthday of Mozart, who himself struggled to get his revolutionary work commissioned.
Review by Lisa Williams