“Makavejev Film Collection ’91” / 「マカヴェイエフ フィルム・コレクション」, Original Japanese Retrospective Poster 1991, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) — ZA870
This is an original Japanese poster printed in 1991 for Makavejev Film Collection ’91 (マカヴェイエフ フィルム・コレクション), a major Japanese retrospective devoted to the work of the legendary Yugoslav filmmaker Dušan Makavejev.
A compelling and highly unusual piece of international art-cinema ephemera, this poster was produced to promote a repertory screening program rather than a standard commercial release. For collectors of avant-garde cinema, Yugoslav Black Wave, and visually radical Japanese poster design of the late 20th century, it is an especially striking and desirable item.
Program background
Issued in 1991, this retrospective celebrated the work of Dušan Makavejev, one of the most provocative and influential directors to emerge from postwar European cinema. Makavejev became internationally renowned for his fearless, hybrid approach to filmmaking—blending fiction, documentary, political satire, sexuality, absurdism, and formal experimentation in ways that were often years ahead of their time.
The program surveys a broad cross-section of his work, ranging from early Yugoslav features to later international productions. The listed titles include:
- Manifesto
- The Coca-Cola Kid
- Montenegro
- Sweet Movie
- WR: Mysteries of the Organism
- Innocence Unprotected
- Love Affair, or the Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator
- Man Is Not a Bird
The accompanying text emphasizes the breadth of the retrospective, presenting works from his later career alongside the rare early films that had long been difficult to see in Japan.
Poster design
The design is exceptionally bold and immediately memorable. It is built around a high-contrast fluorescent palette of hot pink and cyan, creating a vivid, almost hallucinatory effect that perfectly suits Makavejev’s reputation as one of cinema’s great iconoclasts.
The upper and central field is densely filled with a graphic collage of imagery drawn from across his films: faces, crowds, lovers, protests, fragmented scenes, and provocative visual quotations overlap into a chaotic and exhilarating montage. The result is less a literal summary than a visual analogue for Makavejev’s cinema itself—energetic, disruptive, layered, and defiantly unconventional.
Running vertically down the left side is the large orange katakana title:
「マカヴェイエフ フィルム・コレクション」
Beside it appears a powerful vertical line of copy that may be understood as an endorsement of the director’s singular artistic force—describing a cinema of rare intensity, boldness, and ecstatic expression.
At the lower centre is a superbly eccentric touch: a full-colour cutout photograph of Makavejev smiling while holding a baby kangaroo, an unmistakable reference to The Coca-Cola Kid, his Australian-set feature. This small photographic element adds warmth and wit to an otherwise aggressively graphic composition and makes the poster particularly memorable.
Overall, the design is a remarkable example of Japanese repertory-poster aesthetics at their most inventive: intellectually alert, visually uncompromising, and highly decorative.
Condition
Very good+ condition. The poster presents very well overall, with strong colour, clean impact, and excellent display presence.
There are signs of age and handling consistent with an original poster of this type, including light general wear and minor creasing, most notably visible in the upper area. The reverse shows light age-related handling wear and soft toning, but remains clean overall. Despite these modest signs of use, the poster remains a highly attractive and very presentable original example.
Please review the photographs carefully, as they show the exact poster for sale.
This is an original 1991 Japanese retrospective poster.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
