La plaga

The Plague is the debut feature film by director Neus Ballús.
With a hybrid approach between documentary and fiction, the film portrays life on the outskirts of Barcelona through interwoven stories of five real people who play themselves. Among them is Iurie, a Moldovan Greco-Roman wrestler who works in the fields to make ends meet, and who features as the central figure on the poster.
The visual concept stems from a radical act of decontextualization: the wrestler’s body and stance, typical of a sporting environment, are relocated to the non-place of a barren ploughed field. The result is an image that evokes tension, strength, and a touch of irony, a visual metaphor for daily struggle.

La plaga de Neus Ballús
Póster de la película La plaga (2013), drama rural dirigido por Neus Ballús ambientado en el campo catalán
Póster de la película La plaga (2013), drama rural dirigido por Neus Ballús ambientado en el campo catalán (Making off)
Póster de la película La plaga (2013), drama rural dirigido por Neus Ballús ambientado en el campo catalán (Making off con mariano Herrera)
Póster de la película La plaga (2013), drama rural dirigido por Neus Ballús ambientado en el campo catalán Carátula de DVD
La plaga, dirigida por Neus Ballús, photocall en el estreno Gallecs
La plaga, dirigida por Neus Ballús, equipo de rodaje con Pau Subirós, Diego Dussuel, Judit Quintana

The poster was conceived through the visual and conceptual contrast of placing a Greco-Roman wrestler in a combat stance within a rural, earthy, and desolate landscape. This juxtaposition visually expresses the tension between strength and vulnerability, reinforcing the idea of internal and social struggle that runs through the film’s characters.

The photograph, by Mariano Herrera, enhances the subject’s natural presence, aiming for authenticity and a raw, documentary quality. The graphic design supports this honest, unembellished perspective.

Client
El Kinògraf
Creative Direction
Xavi Clavijo
Art Direction
Xavi Clavijo
Photography
Mariano Herrera

NEXT PROJECT

Toppling Babylon

Toppling Babylon LP pays tribute to the global wave of protests that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020. In Bristol, on June 7 of that year, demonstrators took to the streets to demand justice, culminating in the toppling of the statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston. Dragged through the streets and thrown into the harbour, the fall of the statue became a powerful global symbol of resistance. This is our design for the cover, a tribute to the movement, the message, and the moment.