“Mother Joan of the Angels” (尼僧ヨアンナ) — “Art Theatre Is Born”, Original Japanese ATG Reopening Poster, Sapporo Kōraku Bunka Theatre, c. 1962, B2 Size (51 × 73 cm) M165

This is an original Japanese Art Theatre Guild (ATG) poster announcing the 1 August reopening of Sapporo’s Kōraku Bunka Theatre, with Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s Mother Joan of the Angels as its inaugural attraction. The Polish film had launched ATG’s Japanese distribution programme in April 1962. This sheet records how one of the Guild’s original ten cinemas introduced the same film, and the idea of an “Art Theatre”, to its own audience.

Set in a remote convent in seventeenth-century Poland, the film follows a priest sent to investigate reports of demonic possession. His encounters with the convent’s prioress, played by Lucyna Winnicka, put his own faith to the test. The film won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes in 1961, an honour credited beneath the French title, Mère Jeanne des Anges.

The design gives the theatre’s reopening as much prominence as the film. Against a black ground, the date appears in large ivory characters opposite the gold atg emblem. The English declaration “ART THEATRE IS BORN” runs across the sheet, echoed by bold Japanese lettering down the left side. A single black-and-white still shows a nun with her arms raised, the folds of her white habit picked out against the dark background.

Above the film title, 「開場披露作品」 identifies it as the opening attraction. Below, the poster announces four screenings daily, gives the cinema’s Sapporo address and invites patrons to join its local film society. These details make the sheet a record of ATG’s early exhibition history in Hokkaido.

Very Good / Excellent condition overall, with visible creasing, scattered surface scuffs and some edge wear, most noticeable at the lower left corner and along the bottom edge. The central photograph and ivory-and-gold lettering remain clear against the black ground. Once framed, this poster will display excellently.

Please review the photographs, which show the exact poster offered.

Approximately 64 years old.
Not a reproduction or reprint.
Certificate of Authenticity included.