ACF
Asian Cinema Fund
Script Development Fund
2017 Script Development Fund
LIST The Postman
| Category | Asian Project |
|---|---|
| Project | The Postman |
| Director | Siddiq BARMAK |
| Country | Afghanistan |
| Director's Profile | Siddiq BARMAK is an award-winning Afghan director. His debut feature Osama (2003) won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film and screened at festivals across the world. He directed Opium War (2008) and has been on juries for many festivals. |
- Synopsis
- When Amir's teenaged son dies in a rocket attack, his family falls apart. His wife Nazira retreats into silence, his younger children run the house. Amir turns to his job as a postman for solace. It is the winter of 1991. As Kabul is circled by war, he goes about delivering letters to people's homes. Amir is happiest on his familiar route, going between the apartment blocks of Microrayan, a 'modern' colony built by the Soviets in the 1960s. At the office, Amir is fascinated by Sailay, a beautiful letter reader appointed by the government. Her words can land people in prison, or with the notorious secret police. When his younger son gets in trouble, Amir is forced to ask Sailay for help. He gets trapped into doing work for her that he doesn't completely understand. Will he be able to escape this web and save his family from the coming war?
- Director's Note
- Virtually every Kabuli has a story from the era of civil war of the 1990s. But no films have been made about this dark, complex time. As I saw my city change through those tumultuous years, I want to translate this experience to cinema. This was an important time for my country when history took a decisive turn. The roots of many current problems in Afghan society and even globally can be traced back to things that happened then. It is important that these stories are told by Afghans. The Postman is an attempt to reckon with this complicated heritage for the Afghan people as well as the world.
- Festivals
- Still Cut