Black Orpheus is the 1959 French-Italian-Brazilian film that introduced the world to bossa nova. Directed by Claude Lelouch’s contemporary Marcel Camus, based on Vinicius de Moraes’s 1956 play “Orfeu da Conceição,” it won the Palme d’Or and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film — the first film ever to win both.
A play, then a film
In 1956, poet and diplomat Vinicius de Moraes wrote “Orfeu da Conceição,” a retelling of the Orpheus myth set during Carnival in a Rio favela. French director Marcel Camus adapted it into Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus), a France-Italy-Brazil co-production shot on location in Rio in 1959. The film’s soundtrack — largely built around Luiz Bonfá and Antônio Carlos Jobim — introduced international audiences to bossa nova for the first time.
The first film to win both
Black Orpheus won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1959 and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1960 — the first film in history to win both. It wasn’t the only one to eventually do so (The Tin Drum, Amour and Parasite later joined it), but it was first, and its soundtrack did more than any single record to carry bossa nova out of Brazil.
La Danse d’Orphée: writing new French words to an old Brazilian samba
One of the film’s key pieces, “Samba de Orfeu,” became a bossa nova standard in its own right. For Paris Bossa Nova, Ramsay Rawson wrote his own French lyrics for the melody — publisher-approved — retitling it “La Danse d’Orphée.”
La Danse d’Orphée, 2026: Chapter 3 of Paris Bossa Nova
Rawson’s connection to the song runs deeper than a cover: he first heard it in a Paris café, performed it with his brother in Barcelona, and it became a cornerstone of his live set long before it became Chapter 3 of his debut EP — joyful, cinematic, and elegant rather than a concert recap.
Watch Ramsay perform La Danse d’Orphée:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbJJpdXx_a0/
FAQ
What is Black Orpheus?
A 1959 France-Italy-Brazil film by Marcel Camus, based on Vinicius de Moraes’s play “Orfeu da Conceição,” credited with introducing bossa nova to international audiences.
Did Black Orpheus win the Oscar and the Palme d’Or?
Yes — it was the first film to win both the Palme d’Or (Cannes, 1959) and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (1960), though not the only one since.
What is La Danse d’Orphée?
Ramsay Rawson’s French-language rewrite of “Samba de Orfeu” from the Black Orpheus soundtrack — Chapter 3 of his debut EP Paris Bossa Nova, Volume 1.
Stream La Danse d’Orphée on Spotify · Follow Ramsay Rawson · Paris Bossa Nova playlist
The rest of the series
Paris Bossa Nova, Volume 1: The History Behind Every Chapter · Samba Saravah · Le Rendez-vous · J’attendrai · Eu Sei Que Vou Te Amar
