"Cantonese Iron Kung Fu" Ghanaian Movie Poster

Starring Bryan Leung, "Cantonen Iron Kung Fu" was a 1979 Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Lee Chiu. The film's international success is evident in this hand-painted advertisement from Ghana. Frequently unable to import official posters, theaters in Ghana hired enterprising artists to create and embellish designs to promote the films. In this case, "Wasco Art Services" captured the spirit of the film in their own painterly style.

Such paintings, true to their folk style, are hand-lettered in the local vernacular, adding to the character of the works. The "Guy Jesus" moniker is a fantastic mistranslation of the original characters, emphasizing the interesting cross-cultural interpretations at play in this work. Over time, these singular pieces of cinema history have become sought after by collectors the world over.