{"id":2288,"date":"2026-07-19T06:17:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T06:17:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnnglobalnews.com\/2026\/07\/19\/we-are-preserving-a-tradition-how-ghanas-sensationalist-film-posters-became-collectible-art\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T06:17:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T06:17:05","slug":"we-are-preserving-a-tradition-how-ghanas-sensationalist-film-posters-became-collectible-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnnglobalnews.com\/?p=2288","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We are preserving a tradition\u2019: how Ghana\u2019s sensationalist film posters became collectible art"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/span>Hand-painted film posters on show at the Centre for National Culture in Accra, Ghana. Photograph: Carlos Mureithi\/The Guardian<\/span><\/figcaption><\/span><\/div>\n
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Hand-painted works are often wildly unfaithful to the movies they portray \u2013 reinterpretations that sometimes resulted in threats, insults and even physical attacks from viewers who felt duped<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By Carlos Mureithi<\/a> in Greater Accra<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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S<\/span>itting on his porch in Teshie near Accra, Heavy J dipped a brush into red oil paint and dabbed it carefully on to his canvas \u2013 a flour sack \u2013 adding blood to a knife being wielded by a man. Higher on the canvas, he had started on an outline of a skull.<\/p>\n

Heavy J was creating a poster, but not as you might have expected for a horror film. Instead, it was for the animated fairytale The Little Mermaid. The man with the knife wasn\u2019t a killer but the film\u2019s kind-hearted prince, Eric. The skull was also unrelated to the story. \u201cWe add more to make people interested,\u201d said Heavy J, whose real name is Jeaurs Affutu.<\/p>\n

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\"Jeaurs