VIDEO: Carl Franklin Announces BLACK ORPHEUS for AFI Movie Club

AFI Alum Carl Franklin (Directing, AFI Class of 1986) announces today's AFI Movie Club selection: BLACK ORPHEUS. The Oscar-winning BLACK ORPHEUS transports the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to the stunningly sumptuous world of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. With its vibrant cinematography and pulsating soundtrack by film composers Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim, the film kicked off the bossa nova craze across America and inspired countless filmmakers, including Franklin.

Adhemar da Silva who plays "Death" was an Olympic athlete - he won two Olympic gold medals in 1952 and 1956 and set four world records in the triple jump - and actor Breno Mello, who plays Orfeu, was a soccer player. He had no prior acting experience when director Marcel Camus stopped him on the streets of Rio de Janeiro and asked if he would like to be in his film. Most of the BLACK ORPHEUS cast were non-professionals, except American singer and dancer Marpessa Dawn who plays Eurydice.