Brazilian film ‘I’m Still Here’ Makes Oscar History

Walter Salles’ drama “I’m Still Here” has marked a historic first for Brazil as it took home the Academy Award in the International Feature category.

“I’m Still Here”, which tells the real-life story of Eunice Paiva’s decades-long search for justice after her husband’s disappearance during Brazil’s military dictatorship, has been gaining momentum in recent weeks, reports variety.com

The film beat out France’s “Emilia Perez,” Germany’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Denmark’s “The Girl With the Needle” and Latvia’s “Flow.”

“I’m so honoured to receive this, and in such an extraordinary group of filmmakers,” Salles said during his acceptance speech.

He added: “This goes to a woman who, after a loss suffered during an authoritarian regime, decided not to bend. And to resist. So, this prize goes to her. And it goes to the two extraordinary women who gave life to her, Fernanda Torres, and Fernanda Montenegro.”

Brazil has submitted films to the international feature category every year since 1960, earning five previous nominations: “Keeper of Promises” (1962), “O Quatrilho” (1995), “Four Days in September” (1997), “Central Station” (1998) and now, “I’m Still Here.” Until tonight, however, the country had never secured a win in the category.

This victory is particularly poignant for Salles, who also directed “Central Station,” the last Brazilian film to receive a nomination.

That film’s lead actress, Fernanda Montenegro, made history as the first Brazilian actor to be nominated for an Academy Award. Now, her daughter, Fernanda Torres, follows in her footsteps as the second Brazilian performer nominated in the same category.

Their nominations place Montenegro and Torres among an elite group of Oscar-nominated mother-daughter duos, including Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli, Diane Ladd and Laura Dern, Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis, Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson, and Ingrid Bergman and Isabella Rossellini, the latter of whom is also nominated this year for “Conclave.”

—IANS