The Doomsday Clock

Revelers mingle, drink, and dance at a street carnival.

An allegorical tale, using cut-out animation of two people, male and female; their expulsion from Eden, their journey through life, and their ultimate fate in hell.

This film, set to Ponta de Lanca Africano (Umbabarauma) by Jorge Ben, was created to accompany Beleza Tropical: Brazil Classics 1, the first in a series of albums compiled by David Byrne to promote the unique music published by Brazilian artists during a repressive period of military rule in the 1970’s-1980’s. The aim was to visually invoke the album’s sensual and lyrical breadth and depth, and to subtly reflect the underlying social and political issues of that time.