Cinema Jove has commissioned the design of the image for its 40th edition to the Chilean illustrator María Jesús Contreras, who has a weekly collaboration with The New York Times and works for brands such as Hermès, Gucci, Apple, Lush, and Penguin Randomhouse.
The presentation of the poster will take place on May 22 at the Rialto building while the event will be held from June 19 to 28, as reported by the Generalitat in a statement. María Jesús Contreras has used a modernized vintage aesthetic to represent the four decades of the festival’s history.
«Through the use of very recognizable elements, where narrative audiovisual traditions are recovered and a visual enrichment of almost artisanal textures is provided through graphics, Contreras has synthesized in her work a faithful reflection of what Cinema Jove is: a festival with a long life, where the ability of youth to transform and make more classic languages their own is valued, as well as finding new ways to tell stories,» explained the festival’s art director, Ada Diez.
The illustrator’s work is characterized by walking «on a thin line between fantasy and realism.» The poster she has designed for the festival showcases her graphic synthesis ability and her vision to find evocative images.
«It is a graphic presentation where we use elements historically linked to Cinema Jove: the moon, the audience as spectator and creator, and the big screen as a reflection and showcase of what has happened,» detailed Diez.
María Jesús Contreras’s illustrations are characterized by intense and saturated colors, where fear and humor are sources of inspiration.
The Chilean creator publishes a weekly illustration in The New York Times as part of the Saturday morning column. She currently works for newspapers, magazines, and supplements such as The Washington Post, Texas Monthly, The New Yorker, The Telegraph, The Economist, Los Angeles Times, and New York Magazine, as well as for brands like Gucci, Hermès, Apple, Lush, McDonald’s, the US public radio, NPR, and the publishing house Penguin Random House.
Her work has been featured on platforms like It’s Nice That, Domestika, WeTransfer, Colossal, and Creative Boom. In 2022, she was the recipient of The One Club for Creativity’s YoungGuns Award, which honors creative professionals worldwide under 30 years old.
The following year, she won the AI42, awarded by American Illustration, was preselected for the World Illustration Awards, and was invited to be part of the juries of the Latin American Design Awards, the New Blood Portfolio Competition for D&AD, and YoungGuns. In 2024, she was part of the jury for the ADC Annual Awards and was recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the 50 most powerful women in Chile.