The weird and wonderful world of Ghanaian movie posters
The ability to toggle between custom movie posters on Letterboxd has opened up a whole new world for art nerds and graphic designers who can showcase their work in brand new ways, with production companies now commissioning multiple poster versions for fans to debate over and claim as their favourite. However, there has been one country in particular that has been redesigning classic movie posters for years and was perhaps the first to jump on this creative bandwagon, with a back catalogue of spectacular images that are all hand-painted and criminally under-seen.
The Deadly Prey gallery in Chicago have been showcasing the work of Ghanaian artists for years, with an Instagram account dedicated to the colour and inventive posters that reimagine scenes from films like The Godfather, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Mrs Doubtfire, with cartoonish and playful style that injects new life into the world of movie marketing.
The gallery was created by Brian Chankin, with the founder describing the unique process of making the posters, saying, “By sewing together used flour sacks, a perfect-sized canvas for an oversized movie poster was created. The ruggedness of these posters is immediately noticed. Though a specific poster might only be ten to 20 years old, its appearance will far surpass its actual age due to the elemental toll one takes from constant transit, being rolled, folded, left in the sun, rain, etc.”
The style can be characterised by quirky and sometimes explicit images, often imagining a new scene from the film that doesn’t exist.
The Ghanaian version of the Mrs Doubtfire poster shows Robin Williams’ character piercing a broomstick through the eye of one of the children, with blood spurting out of their head as she wickedly looks on. The Ferris Bueller’s Day Off poster imagines the aftermath of Cameron confronting his father about wrecking his car, with the infamous trio engaging in a Mexican standoff with the skyline of Chicago in the background. The Godfather poster shows Vito Corleone holding a comically oversized cat, presumably about to eat the head of a slaughtered horse that lies in front of them.
The gallery founder stated, “Many of the same artists from Ghana’s former mobile cinema continue to paint movie posters as art with Deadly Prey Gallery on a commission basis to a growing worldwide audience. Today, the gallery works with talented artists from Ghana’s former mobile cinema. The impressive roster features Heavy J, Salvation, Stoger, Leonardo, Farkira, Mr. Nana Agyq, Mark Anthony, C.A. Wisely, Magasco, and Nii Bi Ashitey.”
For those who are a fan of minimalism and film posters that leave everything up to the imagination, then perhaps the world of Ghanaian painting isn’t for you (especially if you’re not a fan of gore). But if you’re looking for something different or a unique version of one of your favourite films, look no further than the weird and wonderful Ghanaian artists who are putting their own spin on the classics we know and love.
