Bootleg DVDs of ‘Gravity’ and ’12 Years a Slave’ Are Big Hits in Iran, Says Sundance Actor
An Oscar nomination for best picture usually means more people flock to your film, and in the case of “Gravity,” “12 Years a Slave” and “Captain Phillips,” some of those eyeballs are from an unexpected overseas market.
All three of those titles are currently hot bootleg DVDs in Iran, said actor Peyman Moaadi, on the red carpet at the Sundance premiere of “Camp X-Ray,” where he plays a detainee in Guantanamo Bay opposite a sympathetic guard (Kristen Stewart).
He’d already seen “Gravity” on the small screen.
Mooadi, who flew from Tehran to Park City, Utah, to be at the premiere, made a splash in 2011 as the star of Asghar Farhadi’s critically-acclaimed drama “A Separation.” He said he’s currently on-stage in Iran in an adaptation of “Waiting for Godot.”
The new regime doesn’t crack down on cinema as long as “you don’t do anything against the regime or politics,” Mooadi explained. “There are some theaters that show new films one time a day, but usually they show European films.”
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