‘I’m Still Here’ Makes History As Brazil’s First-Ever Oscar
Walter Salles, winner of the award for "I'm Still Here" from Brazil, for best international feature film, poses in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
The Brazilian film I’m Still Here has just made history at the 97th annual Academy Awards. The biographical drama starring Fernanda Torres became the first from Brazil to win in the Best International Feature Film category.
I’m Still Here received three nominations at the Oscars, including Best Actress for Torres, Best Picture, and Best International Feature Film. In the movie, Torres played real-life lawyer and activist Eunice Paiva, who was searching for answers about the disappearance of her husband during the military dictatorship in Brazil. Torres’ mother, Fernanda Montenegro, also played an older version of Paiva. I’m Still Here was directed by Walter Salles, who hails from Rio de Janeiro. While accepting the award for the International Feature Film category, Salles thanked Paiva, Torres, and Montenegro.
“Thank you first in the name of Brazilian cinema,” Salles said at the podium with the Oscar in his hand. “I’m so honored to receive this in such an extraordinary group of filmmakers. This goes to a woman [who], after a loss suffered during an authoritarian regime, decided not to bend and not to resist. This prize goes to her. Her name is Eunice Paiva. And it goes to the two extraordinary women who gave life to her, Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro.”
Torres is following in her mother’s footsteps with her Oscar nomination. In 1999, Montenegro made history as the first person from Brazil and Latin America to be nominated for Best Actress. Zoe Saldaña also made history tonight as the first actress of Dominican descent to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Emilia Pérez.
