Brazil picks “I’m Still Here” for the 2025 Oscar race
The film I’m Still Here, by director Walter Salles, has been selected to represent Brazil in the race for Best International Film at the 2025 Oscars. The announcement was made by the Brazilian Film Academy after a unanimous decision by the selection committee.
The picture won Best Screenplay at the Venice Film Festival and was shown at the Toronto and San Sebastián festivals, as well as being selected for the New York Film Festival.
“I’m proud to chair this committee, which was unanimous in its choice of this great film about memory, a moving portrait of a family under the military dictatorship. I’m Still Here is a masterpiece, told through the eyes of a woman, Eunice Paiva, and with sublime performances by the two Fernandas. This is a historic moment for our cinema. I have no doubt this film has a great chance of placing Brazil once again among the best in the world. We in the Brazilian audiovisual industry deserve this,” said Bárbara Paz, chair of the Selection Committee, in a publication by the Brazilian Film Academy.
Starring Fernanda Torres, Fernanda Montenegro, and Selton Mello, the movie is an adaptation of Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s autobiographical work in which he tells the story of his mother Eunice Paiva, widow of Rubens Paiva, who was taken from his home and killed by the military during the dictatorship in Brazil. For decades, Eunice Paiva searched for the truth about what happened to her husband, and became a prominent voice against the military regime and for the opening of the dictatorship’s archives and the search for the memory of the politically disappeared.
In her middle age, Eunice Paiva is played by actress Fernanda Torres, who has been praised for her performance by critics. In her old age, the character is played by Fernanda Montenegro, one of the greatest Brazilian actresses and the mother of Fernanda Torres.
*With information from the Brazilian Film Academy
