'Lost-mania' grips Iran

Thanks to Chris for the heads up.

Its melodramatic, twisting plot and apocalyptic overtones were tailor-made for western audiences. Now Lost, the US television series about plane crash survivors stuck on a remote island, is to be put on commercial release in Iran following soaring sales of pirated black-market DVDs.

Silver Screen, the country's leading home video distributor, is to market the award-winning show's first three seasons – a total of 15 episodes – after buying the broadcast rights and commissioning Iranian actors to dub it into Farsi.

It has also started talks with the state broadcaster, IRIB, with a view to airing Lost on nationwide television.

Programmes will be carefully censored to exclude "un-Islamic" scenes such as those featuring scantily clad women or male-female physical contact.

Iran's culture and Islamic guidance ministry, which decides which films and programmes are shown, is expected to approve the idea.

The move follows an outbreak of what has been described as "Lost-mania", which has seen the ABC-produced series downloaded from the internet and widely discussed on Iranian websites. Large numbers of Farsi-subtitled DVDs have been sold illegally in shops.

Other long-running US dramas – including 24, Prison Break and Desperate Housewives – have been widely distributed on Iran's black market, but none has been given official approval.

Granting distribution and broadcasting rights to Lost would mark a policy reversal after officials previously criticised the series and warned media outlets against publicising it.

Mohammad Hossein Saffar-Harandi, recently sacked as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's culture and Islamic guidance minister, lambasted it for displaying "Zionist concepts". However, others insisted the programme was suitable for an Iranian audience because it has "eastern" themes.

"The atmosphere of this story, due to our classic literature, is familiar to Iranian and eastern viewers," Saeed Ghotbizadeh, a TV and cinema critic, told the Tehran-e Emrooz newspaper. "Eastern viewers can understand it better and would naturally like it.

"Because it has a religious theme, it is possible to broadcast 90% of it without censorship. But its brilliant and special characterisation might be sacrificed in Persian dubbing – a lot will depend on how well it is dubbed."

Lost's popularity has already spawned plans for an Iranian remake that would include plot revisions to match Islamic mores.

Source: Guardian