A very rare original Japanese B1 poster for Wim Wenders’ Buena Vista Social Club. Nikkatsu issued this large-format poster for the first Japanese theatrical release on 15 January 2000, a year after the documentary’s 1999 debut.
In Excellent+ condition. At just over a metre tall, the bold green title panel and sunlit Havana street photograph make a striking framed display.
Film background
In 1998, Wenders accompanied guitarist Ry Cooder to Havana, where singer Ibrahim Ferrer was recording a solo album. The success of the 1997 Buena Vista Social Club album had brought Ferrer and his fellow Cuban musicians a new international audience.
The film follows the musicians from Havana to concerts in Amsterdam and at New York’s Carnegie Hall. In one sequence, Ferrer and Omara Portuondo sing the bolero Silencio, and Wenders moves between their intimate studio duet and their performance on the Amsterdam stage. The film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.
Poster design
Six names share top billing across the green panel: Ry Cooder, Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, Eliades Ochoa, Omara Portuondo and Compay Segundo. Two yellow stars sit inside the A’s of BUENA VISTA, a motif repeated in the Japanese title at the foot of the poster.
Susan Titelman’s photograph, familiar from the album sleeve, catches Ferrer walking to the recording studio. His white cap and striped shirt stand out against the deep shade on the left, while the bonnet of a pale blue Chevrolet enters from the right. The yellow band below carries “A FILM BY WIM WENDERS”, with Titelman’s photo credit at the lower right.
The Japanese tagline, written by Shibuya’s Cinema Rise manager Mitsuhiro Rai, runs across the sunlit pavement.
「キューバから届いた至福の音楽、至福の映像、至福の瞬間」
“Sublime music, sublime images, sublime moments, all from Cuba.”
Condition
Excellent+ overall. The colours are bright and even, the black lettering is crisp, and the fine grain of the street photograph shows clearly. The reverse is clean overall, with faint show-through from the artwork. Please review the photographs of the front, reverse and print detail for the full condition.
An original vintage Japanese theatrical poster from the film’s first release in Japan in 2000.
Over 25 years old.
Certificate of Authenticity included.
