Clockwork Orange / screen print / Nelson Ponce / Cuba

13.01.12

PosterPosterPoster
Title
Clockwork Orange
AKA
Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (USA - poster title) | Arancia meccanica (Italy)
Year of Film
1971
Director
Stanley Kubrick
Starring
Malcolm McDowell, Warren Clarke, Michael Bates, James Marcus, Michael Tarn, Patrick Magee
Origin of Film
USA | UK
Genre(s) of Film
Crime | Drama | Sci-Fi
Type of Poster
Screen print
Style of Poster
--
Origin of Poster
Cuba
Year of Poster
2009
Designer
Nelson Ponce
Artist
Nelson Ponce
Size (inches)
20 2/16" x 30 3/16"
SS or DS
SS
Tagline
--

In August 2011 I was lucky enough to visit the island of Cuba for a ten day trip, which was a fantastic experience. It really does feel like a country stuck in a time warp, circa 1965, particularly once you leave the capital and head into the countryside. It’s a stunningly beautiful island with very hospitable people but the relative poverty of the country is clear to see. It’s often said that the government is likely to relax the current freeze on foreign (particularly Western) investment once ‘Comandante’ Fidel Castro passes away, although with his brother Raul currently in charge very little has changed. This article on the BBC gives you an insight into the current situation.

The Cuban people’s love for film and cinema-going is legendary and our guidebook claimed that at the end of the 1950s there were over 300 cinemas in the capital Havana alone. Today, these great old buildings continue to thrive and whilst there I witnessed the queues of people lining up to see the latest releases. I took this picture of the Yara cinema in the Vedado area of Havana.

Whilst in Havana I visited a bookshop that was selling original Cuban propaganda posters printed in the 1950s and 60s by OSPAAAL. They also had a handful of screen-printed film posters, all of which were reprints of the original Cuban cinema posters or re-imagined designs by local artists. They are officially screen printed by the ICAIC (Instituto Cubano de Artes Industrias Cinematografia) in Havana.

This poster for Stanley Kubrick’s classic Clockwork Orange was designed by the Cuban artist Nelson Ponce (full name Nelson Ponce Sanchez) who was born in 1976 and is a graphic designer and illustrator who also teaches at the ISDI (Instituto Superior de Diseño Industrial) in Havana. His re-imagined poster for the Cuban film Vampiros en la Habana, which was released in 1999, won him acclaim from both the design community and the Cuban public.

The Havana Cultura website has a great interview with the designer.

Whilst at the shop I also picked up a couple of other film posters and a handful of original propaganda posters which I plan to post on the site in the coming months.

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  1. Author
    Posted by Adam Johnson
    Date Posted
    on 18 January 2012

    interesting that it is LA Naranja Mecanica, rather than UNA Naranja Mecanica…

  2. Author
    Posted by stefansf
    Date Posted
    on 10 February 2015

    Hi. That screen print is from 2009. I verified it on the Nelson Ponce website.
    http://www.nelsonponce.com/carteles_4.htm

  3. Author
    Posted by eddie
    Date Posted
    on 19 February 2015

    Thanks for the confirmation! I’ll update it now.

  4. Author
    Posted by Max
    Date Posted
    on 28 March 2017

    Hey – what’s the name of the shop? Very curious, I’ll definitely drop by next time I’m in Havana.

  5. Author
    Posted by eddie
    Date Posted
    on 1 April 2017

    Hi Max, I can’t recall I’m afraid. What I do remember is that it’s on the same street that you find the famous Hemingway bar called The Floridita (where there’s a life-size statue of him). Hope that helps!

  6. Author
    Posted by Max
    Date Posted
    on 4 April 2017

    Thank you so much for replying! This narrows it down pretty well, I’ll be sure to seek it out during my next visit.