Iranian-Born Satrapi's Film Premieres In Venice

Iranian cartoonist Marjane Satrapi

A love story set in 1950s Iran had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in Italy on September 3.

"Chicken With Plums" was co-directed by Iranian-born Marjane Satrapi, a French graphic novelist best known for her comic-strip film "Persepolis."

The film stars French actor Mathieu Amalric as Nasser Ali, a famous Iranian violinist who loses the will to live after his instrument is broken.

Satrapi said the film's more somber moments were "nihilistic because life is nihilistic."

But she also said much of the film was a celebration of love and art -- particularly Ali's lifelong passion for a woman he could never have, played by Iranian-born actress Golshifteh Farahani.

Farahani said it was a pleasure to recreate Iran as it was before the country's 1953 coup, an Iran that is "gone forever."

compiled from agency reports