I became the voice of a generation in a very surprising way, because many Iranians recognize themselves in it. But that is not what I wanted.

I'm not a politician. I don't know how to solve the problems of the world. But as an artist, I have one duty: to ask questions.

The novels have done so well because the drawings are abstract, black-and-white. This adds to the universality of the story. "Persepolis" also has dreamlike moments, and the drawings help maintain cohesion and consistency.

I became the voice of a generation in a very surprising way, because many Iranians recognize themselves in it. But that is not what I wanted.

Culture and education are the lethal weapons against all kinds of fundamentalism.

Start [the movie] in color. Color is always attributed as fun, and black and white is very sad.

I think that all stories - if you make movies about zombies and aliens - it has always to do with your personal story. If not directly, it is about your fears, your obsessions, things like that.