Malaga-based studio Narita designs the poster for the 27th Malaga Film Festival
‘Saboraje malagueño' is the title of the work that will illustrate the different stands of the 27th edition of the event, from the 1st to the 10th of March 2024
The Malaga Festival celebrates its next edition from the 1st to the 10th of March 2024 and has chosen a work by the Malaga-based studio Narita for its poster. As in last year's and previous editions, the Festival has resorted to direct commission, considering that this is the best way to express its image and speech, and even more in this case with the help of a prestigious studio that knows the festival and its city so well.
This was announced by the Malaga Festival at a press conference attended by the Mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre; the Councillor for Culture of Malaga City Council, Mariana Pineda; the Director of the Malaga Festival and Manager of Malaga Procultura, Juan Antonio Vigar, and the designer of the poster, Fabián Suárez, from Narita studio. There were also representatives of the institutions and companies sponsoring the event: Juan Pedro Carnero, the provisional sub-delegate of the Government in Malaga; Salomón Castiel, General Secretary for Culture of Junta de Andalucía; Lisardo Morán, Managing Director of the Andalusian Public Company for Tourism and Sport; Manuel López Mestanza, Vice-President and Deputy for Culture of the Malaga Provincial Council; and Manuel López Mestanza, Vice-President and Deputy for Culture of the Deputación de Malaga; Rosa Pérez, the Atresmedia Cine producer; Juan Carlos Barroso, territorial manager in Andalusia, Ceuta, and Melilla of 'la Caixa' Foundation; Gerardo Cuartero, the commercial director of CaixaBank in Southern Eastern Andalusia; Sergio Ragel, the head of External Relations of Cervezas Victoria; and Ana Pérez-Bryan, chief editor of Diario Sur.
As Juan Antonio Vigar explained, this year the organisation has opted for the work of a prestigious studio from Malaga that has first-hand knowledge of the festival and the city in which it is held. A studio, moreover, that was born the same year as the Malaga event, in 1998, 'a happy coincidence that brings together the trajectories of both', he stated.
The director of the festival said that the avant-garde development that the city has experienced in recent years and the brightness of Malaga, its gastronomy and landscape are the codes that have been used synthetically in the composition of the image for the next edition.
'In this poster we see reflected a strong avant-garde cultural architecture. The structure is reminiscent of the framework that culture needs to be solid. And that is our commitment: a festival that is essential, useful, and solid in its model. Its design is carefully studied and planned, and solid in its foundations, and it has the support of the sector, of the institutions (with the City Council at the forefront) and of the sponsors that sustain it and to whom we must thank year after year for their strong commitment. But it is also a festival that, beyond the essential exhibition of films, has become the focus of the Spanish film industry and in Spanish films with a project as important as the Spanish Screenings, the official Spanish film market, which we will hold again in our next edition', he declared.
The work and its author
According to Fabián Suárez, a member of the Narita team and author of the poster, three elements converge in the design of the poster to represent some of the most characteristic features of the city of Málaga. Firstly, the bright blue of its days and its clear skies, so typical of the landscapes on the Costa del Sol. Moreover, the avant-garde development that the city has experienced, through a graphic synthesis of the pergola that runs along the Palmeral de las Sorpresas, a hypnotic and kinetic design by Junquera Arquitectos for one of the most representative public spaces in the docks area. And the icing on the cake, literally, is a gastronomic reference to the torta loca: a popular sweet from Malaga whose yolk glaze on the top is crowned with a sour cherry.
The combination of all these elements aims, at the same time, to represent 'saboraje': a term coined by the Andalusian writer José María Suárez Gallego. It alludes to that feeling of connection that we experience with a landscape when we enjoy its local gastronomy, feeling part of the environment, which is why it will never be the same to taste a torta loca anywhere else. The idea is to convey that the Malaga Festival is a unique and special experience that can only take place in Malaga.
Founded in 1998, Narita is a strategic consultancy specialising in design and branding. Based in Malaga, it has a multidisciplinary team with extensive experience in the conceptualisation, design, and implementation of strategic creative projects, based on the construction of values, an image and a narrative able to make an impact and links with brands.
Narita has been strongly related to the cultural sector of its city. It has developed creative strategies for multiple entities such as Fundación Unicaja, La Térmica, Teatro Soho Caixabank,
Museo Picasso Malaga or Antonio Gala’ house museum, La Baltasara, among other institutions. In the national cultural field, Narita is a consultant with extensive experience in the design of strategies and campaigns for public and private institutions, including the promotion of entities activities, such as the Collection of the Russian Museum, Centre Pompidou, Instituto Cervantes, Alliance Française or ICEX Spain Trade and Investment.
Its campaigns and graphic works have received multiple design awards (Laus, Anuaria, Latampack, Letra, Clap, CS Design Awards, Luxury Advertising Awards...), which is why it has topped on several occasions the ranking of 'The best of the year in design and branding' by the specialised magazine El Publicista.
