Wildlife Conservation Film Festival/ WCFF: The Mourning Posters

Credits & Description:

Client: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival (WCFF)
Media: Outdoor
Agency: DDB NY
Chief Creative Officer: Icaro Doria
Creative Director: Thiago Carvalho; Bruno Oppido
ACD (Art Director): Diego Limberti
ACD (Copywriter): Rogo de Castro
Illustrator: Diego Limberti
Senior Account Executive: Matthew Leach
PR: Christie Giera; Madison Seely
Client: Wildlife Conservation Film Festival (WCFF) – Founder and CEO, Christopher J. Gervais
Sharing DDB NY’s new work for the Wildlife Conservation Film Festival (WCFF), the premier global event that celebrates and informs people on the importance of preserving global biodiversity. DDB NY has designed a series of 12 "movie poster" illustrations, entitled “The Mourning Posters,” which premiered at WCFF, and Nat Geo WILD’s world premiere screening of Mission Critical in Washington Square Park last week.
The name “The Mourning Posters” pays tribute to the species that are close to extinction in each corresponding film, as do the decisions to use only black-and-white art and to accompany each poster in the installation with a candle. Each poster displays an iconic, powerful illustration of a different film being shown at the upcoming WCFF event, includes an image of the species in question, and a synopsis of the film at the top of each poster. The focus of these beautifully illustrated posters is to promote the WCFF film festival, inform viewers of the importance of protecting nature, and raise awareness about the serious issues facing different endangered species as told through each film.
For example, the film poster for ‘The Great Elephant Gathering of Asia’ depicts a floating cluster of elephants against a starry backdrop to illustrate the natural phenomenon that occurs when herds of elephants gather at the Minneriya National Park, as the film examines.
The copy on the poster reads: “Sri Lanka’s Minneriya National Park is home to the largest gathering of Asian elephants in the world, and is the biggest wildlife tourist attraction in Sri Lanka. But due to habitat loss, this species is already on the list of endangered animals, as its population has declined by almost half in the last sixty years, leaving fewer than fifty thousand elephants in the wild. These animals are well known for their size and power, but also for being highly intelligent and self-aware. They exhibit a wide variety of behaviors, including those associated with grief, learning, mimicry, play, altruism, compassion, cooperation, memory, and language. Sri Lanka is a true oasis for these elephants – over 6,000 of them call Sri Lanka home, their highest density anywhere in the world. Every year, from April to September, herds of elephants gather at Minneriya National Park, creating the unique natural spectacle documented in “The Great Elephant Gathering of Asia.”