Have your kids finished reading Persepolis and now you need a movie to kill time while you grade their essays? Well, you are in luck! Wadjda, directed by Haifaa al Mansour, is a GREAT film to pair with Persepolis. Haifaa al Mansour is the first female Saudi Arabian director and had to overcome a lot of obstacles to be able to make this film.  (Check our her interview with The Guardian here.)
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I do not like showing Persepolis the movie because it's so so so so similar to the book, but Wadjda is about a girl growing up in Saudi Arabia who wants a bike. It's such a simple wish, but because of the oppressive society she lives in, she may as well be wishing for a ride to the moon.
While students are watching the movie, I ask them to fill in this handout where they compare and contrast the book and movie.
Some questions they should consider:
How are the parents similar/different?Â
How are the cultures similar/different?
How are Marjane and Wadjda similar/different?
When I need to look over rough drafts of my students' essay, I put on a movie for my kids, so my students usually watch Wadjda waaay at the end of our Persepolis unit
After teaching the writing mini-lessons that I feel my students need at the time, I collect their rough drafts (or very detailed outlines) and quickly read through them. The purpose of the read through is NOT to provide detailed feedback, and the maximum time I spend on a paper is usually between 2-3 minutes depending on the class size. I typically have classes that are between 25-30 students and I give myself one 84 minute block to read through the papers. If a student in on track to earn an A/B, I leave 2-3 comments and move on. If a student is headed for a very low C or below, I meet with them for a few minutes during study hall or during class if I have time. (A note: there should only be a few students who are headed in this direction, otherwise the task is too hard for a majority of your students. Adjust the assignment accordingly so you only have to meet with a few students from each class.)
During this time, I put on a movie related to the novel at hand, and I tell the students that they can watch the movie, work on their papers, read a book of their choice. That's it. The kids mostly accept this deal because they have a choice between being productive or being relaxed, so everyone wins. I haven't had an issue with this setup since most kids are happy.
After the movie, we spend 15-20 minutes informally discussing Wadjda, and I award participation points to those who jump in. We discuss the following:
1. How is Wadjda similar yet different from Marjane?
2. How is Wadjda's mother similar yet different from Marjane's mother?
3. How is Wadjda's father similar yet different from Marjane's father?
I showed Wadjda to my 10 honors class and they enjoyed it, but I wouldn't show it to students older than that.
Another movie that would pair well with Persepolis is Offsides. A few girls in Iran want to go inside the stadium to watch the soccer game, but they are not allowed to enter the stadium since women are barred. They come up with a plan to get around this and everything goes wrong. There are many overlapping ideas with Persepolis and you can use these Offside Discussion Questions to keep kids focused during the movie. This movie would also work with older students
I hope these movies that pair with Persepolis are helpful to you!
