Le Train de Mana movie poster and title card
Graphic designer Benjamin Puddu, based in Marseille, designed the poster for the film Le Train de Mana, a 20-minute documentary short written and directed by Ophélie Carpentier. Produced by Laterit Productions, the film immerses the viewer in the sensory atmosphere of the town of Mana, French Guiana, during the transition to the New Year. This specific moment of waiting for December 31st marks not only a calendar shift but also the imminent arrival of the rainy season, creating a climatic and human tension that the film seeks to make the audience feel.
To visually translate this “nebulous experience” and the electric energy of the territory, Benjamin Puddu selected the Inferi typeface, created by Matthieu Salvaggio for the Blaze Type foundry. The use of Inferi anchors the title in a structure that is both robust and soulful, capable of dialoguing with the split image of the poster that illustrates the passage from daylight to the vibrant darkness of the Guianese night. The character design complements the strength of the title, evoking this invisible “train”—that of the storm, the celebration, and the passage of time—which draws the entire community into a moment of collective communion.
The graphic project reflects the multidisciplinary approach of the director, a graduate of the Versailles National School of Landscape Architecture, who views territory as a set of fluxes. Supported by institutions such as the GREC, the Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane, and the Lussas Documentary School, the film benefits from a visual identity where Blaze Type’s typography plays a central role. It balances the documentary dimension of the landscape with the mystical dimension of the rain which, according to local belief, comes to “wash the earth of evil spirits”.
