Visual identity of the Lea & Darija movie (Branko Ivanda, 2010)

A true and moving story of a forgotten fate, extraordinary talent and brilliant dance and acting career of a young Jewish girl from Zagreb, 'Croatian Shirly Temple' as dubbed by the Croatian and European media before the Second World War. Lea Deutch died in 1943 at the age of 13 on a train to Auschwitz.

The director wanted a poster that would give the impression of an entertaining movie, and that the foreboding of evil could only be seen in a particularly decent way. Brief was very short: "Lea and Darija is a fun movie (with an icy touch of death)". How to talk about the Holocaust without showing the obvious?

With contemporary retro style, evoking movie posters of the 30's and 40's, especially posters of movie musicals of the time (Fred & Ginger who were also Lea's role models), we introduced the observer to the specific historical period.

The symbolism of yellow as the sole dominant colour on the poster very broadly tells the story of Lea Deutch's tragic fate as Jewish.

And the most exact intervention in the visualization of the director's brief is the transparent shadow of the swastika which, in a cursory projection of the shadows of the dancer, appears almost natural and imperceptible.

Design: Ivana Vučić, Tom Jura Kaćunić (Laboratorium)