Cinema for Peace Foundation Confirms ‘The Interview’ DVD Drop in North Korea

DVD copies of Seth Rogen’s comedy The Interview will be dropped in North Korea by hydrogen balloons.

At a press conference during the Berlin Film Festival in Germany on Monday, Jaka Bizilj, the founder and chairman of the Cinema for Peace Foundation, announced his organization will spearhead the project, but refused to confirm a date.

North Korean leaders moved to block the release of the film, which chronicles an assassination of the country’s leader Kim Jong-Un, and cyber terrorists hacked into Sony’s databases in a bid to prompt movie executives to think twice about releasing the film, as planned, on Christmas Day.

Studio heads initially caved and pulled the film, but then quickly changed their minds and handed copies to independent cinemas all over the U.S.

And now the film is heading to North Korea by air.

Bizilj told reporters, “We will start sending hydrogen balloons with DVDs of The Interview to North Korea so that the people there can watch the movie. They can copy the movie and have their own impression if it’s a good or bad movie, because for us, it’s not a question of whether it’s good or bad; no matter if you like something or not, you have to fight for freedom to exercise this art.”

He added the timing and exact location of the drop wouldn’t be revealed, as it could endanger locals: “The army will stop anyone even picking up a copy of the DVD.”

The film’s star, James Franco, was also present at the press conference, as were Pussy Riot stars Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alyokhina, who performed their first English-language song at the festival on Monday night.

Photo Credit:Sony Entertainment