The Good Postman

Last updated
The Good Postman
The Good Postman (2016 film) poster.jpeg
Official Poster
Directed by Tonislav Hristov
Screenplay by Tonislav Hristov
Lubomir Tsvetkov
Produced byKaarle Aho
Kai Nordberg
StarringIvan Fransuzov
Angela Jekova
Vangel Jekov
Ivan Halahcev
Veselina Dimova
CinematographyOrlin Ruevski
Edited byNikolai Hartmann
Tonislav Hristov
Music byPetar Dundakov
Production
companies
Making Movies Oy
Soul Food
Release dates
19 November 2016
(International Documentary Festival Amsterdam)
Running time
80 minutes
Countries Finland
Bulgaria
LanguageBulgarian

The Good Postman is a 2016 documentary film directed by Tonislav Hristov. [1] The film offers a tragicomic perspective on the 'refugee crisis' of 2015 from a small Bulgarian village located near the Turkish border. The village has suffered decades of economic and demographic decline. The handful of remaining residents observe refugee families from Syria and elsewhere as they cross the border, and ponder inviting them to settle in the vacant village houses. This proposal, advocated by the village postman and main protagonist Ivan, polarizes opinions and brings into focus the local people's own fears, hopes and disappointments.

Although the film uses a semi-fictionalised plot, all characters portray themselves in a narrative which closely follows real events which unfolded in Bulgaria during 2014 and 2015. [2]

The film was largely positively received by international critics. [3] [4] [5] An exception was a review by Neil Young of The Hollywood Reporter, who found the film to be "conventional in form and intermittently engaging in content." [6] By contrast, Ștefan Dobroiu of Cineuropa called it "an amazing and complex portrait of life, politics and community." [7]

The film premiered in November 2016 at the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival. [8] The Good Postman was also the opening film at the April 2017 edition of the One World Human Rights Film Festival, held in Brussels. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik Gandini</span>

Erik Walter Gandini is an Italian-Swedish film director, writer, and producer and professor of documentary film at Stockholm University of the Arts.

Michael Obert is a German book author and journalist who has been compared with the likes of Bruce Chatwin, Jon Krakauer and Ryszard Kapuściński. His debut movie Song from the Forest was honored with the Award for Best Feature-Length Documentary at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2013. In 2016 Song from the Forest was considered for the 88th Academy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivan Barnev</span> Bulgarian actor (born 1973)

Ivan Barnev is a Bulgarian actor. He is best known for his performance as Jan Dítě in I Served the King of England (2006), as well as his frequent collaborations with filmmakers Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov in films such as The Lesson (2014), The Father (2019) and Triumph.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lowery (director)</span> American filmmaker

David Lowery is an American filmmaker.

Lionsgate Premiere is the speciality film division of entertainment company Lionsgate Films that specializes in direct-to-video and direct-to-video on demand.

<i>A Bigger Splash</i> (2015 film) 2015 film

A Bigger Splash is a 2015 psychological drama film directed by Luca Guadagnino and with a screenplay by David Kajganich from a story by Alain Page. Starring Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ralph Fiennes, and Dakota Johnson, the film is loosely based on the 1969 Jacques Deray film La Piscine and named after the 1967 David Hockney painting of the same name. It is the second installment in Guadagnino's self-described Desire trilogy, following I Am Love (2009) and preceding Call Me by Your Name (2017). It competed for the Golden Lion at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival.

Motto Pictures is a documentary production company based in Brooklyn, New York specializing in producing and executive producing documentary features. Motto secures financing, builds distribution strategies, and creatively develops films, and has produced over 25 feature documentaries and won numerous awards.

<i>Sieranevada</i> 2016 film

Sieranevada is a 2016 Romanian film directed by Cristi Puiu and starring Mimi Brănescu. The plot follows a successful neurologist who attends a family meal supposed to commemorate his deceased father. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. It was selected as the Romanian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

<i>Dogs</i> (2016 film) 2016 film

Dogs is a 2016 Romanian drama film directed by Bogdan Mirică. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival where it won the FIPRESCI Prize. It is Mirică's directorial debut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Johnson (director)</span> Canadian actor and filmmaker

Matt Johnson is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. He first attracted accolades for his low-budget independent feature films, including The Dirties (2013), which won Best Narrative Feature at the Slamdance Film Festival, and Operation Avalanche (2016), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Johnson achieved widespread acclaim for his third feature film, BlackBerry (2023), which premiered in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>Glory</i> (2016 film) 2016 film

Glory is a 2016 Bulgarian drama film written and directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov. The second film in the directors' "newspaper-clippings trilogy", the film is a social-realist parable exploring the themes of corruption, class differences, and the rural-urban divide, in contemporary Bulgarian society. It was selected as the Bulgarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Till We Meet Again is a romantic adventure drama film directed by Thai filmmaker Bank Tangjaitrong and starring Johan Matton, Linnea Larsdotter, Emrhys Cooper, and Vithaya Pansringarm. Tangjaitrong's feature film debut, it was written and produced by Johan Matton, who also has a lead role. It won awards at several film festivals, including the Audience and Jury prizes at the Long Beach International Film Festival.

The 54th New York Film Festival was held September 30 - October 16, 2016.

<i>City of Ghosts</i> (2017 film) 2017 documentary film by Matthew Heineman

City of Ghosts is a 2017 Arabic-language American documentary film about the Syrian media activist group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently as they face the realities of life undercover, on the run, and in exile after their homeland is taken over by ISIS in 2014. The film was directed by Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Matthew Heineman.

<i>MindGamers</i> 2015 Austrian film

MindGamers is a 2015 Austrian science fiction film directed by Andrew Goth. The film was theatrically released on March 28, 2017 through Terra Mater Factual Studios. The film stars Tom Payne, Dominique Tipper, Sam Neill, Melia Kreiling, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Turlough Convery and Oliver Stark.

Walk with Me is a 2017 documentary film framed around Zen Buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh and his Plum Village monastic community. Directed by Marc J Francis and Max Pugh, supported by Oscar-winner Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and filmed over three years, the film focuses on the daily life and rituals of the monastics, accompanied by teachings from Thich Nhat Hanh's early journals narrated in voice over by Benedict Cumberbatch.

<i>John Lewis: Good Trouble</i> 2020 documentary by Dawn Porter

John Lewis: Good Trouble is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Dawn Porter about the life of civil rights activist and United States congressman John Lewis.

<i>Swing State</i> (film) 2016 American film

Swing State is a 2016 American comedy film written and directed by Jonathan Sheldon and starring Alex Beh, Taryn Manning, Billy Zane, Sean Astin Arthur L. Bernstein and Angela Kinsey.

Triumph is an upcoming Bulgarian black comedy film directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov. It will star Maria Bakalova, Julian Kostov, Julian Vergov and Margita Gosheva.

<i>"Sr."</i> 2022 American film

"Sr." is a 2022 American documentary film that examines the careers and relationship between Robert Downey Jr. and his father, Robert Downey Sr. The film, directed by Chris Smith, was released theatrically on November 18, 2022, and was released on Netflix on December 2.

References

  1. Beriault, Gilles. "Catndocs - THE GOOD POSTMAN". www.catndocs.com. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  2. "'The Good Postman' Breaks Every Documentary Rule You Know—And It's Amazing". No Film School. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  3. Lodge, Guy (2016-11-22). "IDFA Film Review: 'The Good Postman'". Variety. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  4. "'The Good Postman': IDFA Review". Screen Daily. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  5. Murthi, Vikram. "The Good Postman Trailer: A Postman Runs For Mayor in a Border Village | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  6. "'The Good Postman': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  7. Dobroiu, Ștefan. "The Good Postman: The world according to Ivan". Cineuropa . Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  8. Murthi, Vikram. "The Good Postman Trailer: A Postman Runs For Mayor in a Border Village | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
  9. "The Good Postman - One World 2017". One World 2017. Retrieved 2017-04-25.