"Sadness has no end, joy does."

BLACK ORPHEUS (1959) is the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, about a man travelling to the underworld to retrieve his beloved, transplanted into the carnival of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil with Black actors. A lively and unforgettable picture, it won the Golden Palm of Cannes (1959) and Oscar for Best Foreign Picture (1960).

Black Orpheus is extra special to our head programmer Manon Portos Minetti, who is leaving us in February to go work in the United States. Because of her South American background and activism, Black Orpheus is very dear to Manon's heart. She writes:

"The movie takes place during the carnival of Rio, one of the most beautiful places on earth, where the sweetest people live. One of the most famous songs of the film, "A Felicidade", says: "Sadness has no end, joy does." The song references the fact that people work all year long, only to dress up and celebrate Carnaval for a short time. A long time of suffering and sadness for a short happiness. That makes the happiness more valuable and beautiful.

This is something that people here (in the West) don't always understand, because there is too much (subconscious) privilege, with a relatively uncomplicated past. Whereas in the Americas, there is a completely unavoidable past of suffering; genocide, slavery, colonization, rape - by people from here - which has had a problematic identity formation as a result. The tales of earlier generations are still carried by the children of the Americas and therefore, there is a more genuine and respectful search for and relationship to joy.

Joy is not an accessory or commodity like it is here. For us, it's something that can only emerge from torn hearts, bruised souls, salty tears and restless hearts waiting too be reunited with those who preceded us in the long way of suffering that will ultimately lead to the short joy of those to come after us. That is my interpretation and feeling with this film, one of my favorites and and I am beyond proud and emotional that we are finally showing a story of me and mine on the silver screen."

Regular: 11,- | Discount: 9,- | Cineville valid
Language: Portuguese | Subtitles: English
More info & tickets: https://uitkijk.nl/film/klassieker-black-orpheus/