Movie posters have always been a hip form of art; the unique images designed for movies such as Anatomy of a Murder, Vertigo and Last Temptation of Christ are as much works of art themselves as they are stunning sales pitches for the movies they were made for. (Mea culpa; throughout my teen years, I slept under a poster for Subway — no, not the sandwich chain — because I thought it was the epitome of cool.)
Posters for documentaries are no less compelling. In fact, they have the higher calling of the double bottom line: not just selling the film, but also maintaining a similar political-social agenda. And so it is with great respect and admiration that I have put together what I consider the ten best documentary movie posters. (And, wouldn’t you know it, there’s a doc movie poster contest for the upcoming Full Frame festival. Submissions are due February 15th.
What are some of your favorite documentary movie posters?