In 1999 filmmaker Carlos Diegues remade Black Orpheus as Orfeu, which again brought the Orpheus and Eurydice legend to contemporary Brazil during Carnival.

In 2004 a documentary was made called A la recherché d'Orfeu Negro by filmmakers Rene Letzgus and Bernard Tournois. It explored the impact of the film Black Orpheus on the international popularity of Brazilian music. It also featured a contemporary interview with one of the film's stars, Breno Mello. Mello was brought to the 2005 Cannes Film Festival as a guest in support of the film.

A documentary called A Descoberta de Orfeu (Orpheus' Discovery) is currently in post-production that traces the life of late Black Orpheus star Breno Mello as he went from being a film star to a life of relative obscurity.

The music of Black Orpheus made a particularly lasting impression on the international public. Antonio Carlos Jobim's and Luiz Bonfa's samba soundtrack to the film was a smashing success. It spawned popular songs such as "Manhã de Carnaval" and "A felicidade" that went on to become classics in the world of bossa nova music. Black Orpheus exposed much of the world to samba and bossa nova for the first time, which jump started a musical movement in the United States. Established jazz musicians such as Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd began to cover songs from the soundtrack, and soon the music and culture of Brazil had seeped into mainstream popular culture.

by Andrea Passafiume