''Postcards from America'' (sometimes styled as ''Post Cards from America'') is a British and American

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

based on the books ''Close to the Knives'' and ''Memories That Smell Like Gasoline '' by

David Wojnarowicz David Michael Wojnarowicz ( (September 14, 1954 – July 22, 1992) was an American painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, songwriter/recording artist, and AIDS activist prominent in the East Village art scene. He incorp ...

. The non-linear film presents sequences from three periods in the protagonist's life. The character, called only David, is portrayed by James Lyons in his adulthood, and by Michael Tighe and Olmo Tighe in his teenage and adolescent years.

Production

This marked the first project on which Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler both worked. Koffler served as post-production producer on this film; the pair would form

Killer Films Killer Films is a New York City-based independent film production company founded by movie producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler in 1995. The company has produced a number of the most acclaimed American independent films over the past ...

, which released its first film the following year. Marc Maurino, the writer and executive producer of '' FreeRayshawn'' (2020) worked on the film as an intern.

Release

''Postcards from America'' premiered at the New York Film Festival in 1994. It also played at the Berlin, Sundance, and Toronto Film Festivals.

Reception

''Postcards from America'' was awarded the International Confederation of Art Cinemas award at the Berlin Film Festival. The film received mixed to negative reviews upon release. Many reviews knocked the film for portraying "Wojnarowicz as a passive, inarticulate victim." ''Variety'' described it as "(a) downer without much compensatory insight or dramatic power" in which "McLean shuffles and deals the cards from his deck in a highly selective manner and leaves far too many of them face down." In a review for ''The Advocate'', Emanuel Levy concluded that ''Postcards'' "a dispassionate, uninvolving film" that "may be drenched in too much style, making the experience even more fractured and remote." Adrian Martin called it "a depressingly poor attempt at making a vivid, iconoclastic, stream-of-consciousness movie about some rather grim, relentless and preening ideas." One favorable review commended it for the use of scenes in which characters address the audience, saying the device was better-utilized in ''Postcards'' than in ''

The Sum of Us The Sum of Us can refer to: *'' The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together'', a 2021 best-selling political book by Heather McGhee. *'' The Sum of Us (play)'', a 1990 play by Australian writer and director David Stev ...

''.Guthman, Edward
`Postcards' From a Traumatic Life
''SF Gate'', 28 July 1995. Accessed 4 July 2020.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0110876, Postcards from America 1994 films 1994 drama films 1994 independent films 1994 LGBT-related films 1990s avant-garde and experimental films American drama films British LGBT-related films American LGBT-related films Films about male prostitution in the United States Films produced by Christine Vachon LGBT-related coming-of-age films LGBT-related drama films British drama films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s British films