Pocket Hercules: Naim Suleymanoglu (2019) on Netflix
NR20192h 14mBiographyDramaHistorySport
In 1970s Bulgaria, Naim Süleymanoğlu takes up weightlifting and becomes the youngest world record holder at fifteen. As the state renames Bulgarian Turks, he looks for a way out.
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- Netflix4.1/5
- IMDb8.2/1015,879 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Naim Süleymanoğlu, a Bulgarian Turk, is introduced to weightlifting in the 1970s at age ten. At fifteen he sets his first world record, the youngest weightlifter to do so, and he goes on to world, European and Olympic titles across an eleven-year stretch of his life. In those same years the Bulgarian Communist Party, led by Todor Zhivkov, begins giving Bulgarian names to the country's Turks, starting in 1984. Officials of the party call the campaign the Revival Process, and Naim is among those affected. He tries to leave Bulgaria, and wants the outside world to know what is being done to the Bulgarian Turks.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Pocket Hercules: Naim Suleymanoglu (2019)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Naim Suleymanoglu's story is bound up with Bulgaria's Communist regime under Todor Zhivkov, which from 1984 forced Bulgarian Turks, including Suleymanoglu, to take Bulgarian names. The film heavily covers that assimilation campaign, called the Revival Process, and his attempts to leave Bulgaria.
