Oscar for ‘I’m Still Here’ is a ‘slap in the face’ to the far right, say critics
03 de March de 2025
by Letícia Misna – From Cenarium
MANAUS (AM) – The night of March 2nd 2025 marked a historic moment for Brazil: the country won its first Oscar statuette, the world’s most prestigious film award, with the film “I’m Still Here,” assessed by film critics and audiovisual professionals consulted by CENARIUM as a response to the far right and its attempt to minimise or deny the abuses committed during Brazil’s Military Dictatorship.
The film, starring Fernanda Torres and Selton Mello, tells the story of the Paiva family, directly affected by the Military Dictatorship that ruled Brazil for 21 years. The victory in the “Best International Feature Film” category comes at a time when the country is debating the need to defend democracy and human rights, especially in times of rising extremist ideologies.
Camila Henriques, critic from Amazonas, is affiliated with the Brazilian Association of Film Critics (Abraccine), as well as a voter for the Golden Globes, and for her, the response is clear. “Is it a slap in the face of the far right? Absolutely. They must have hated it. Especially because it is a film about Eunice Paiva, Rubens Paiva, all this history that we know. In the United States, it was so well received because it resonates. Despite being a story about Brazil, it has a very universal narrative, something highly recognisable in other countries,” she said.
Alberto Silva Neto is an actor, director, and professor of Theatre and Cinema at the Federal University of Pará (UFPA). For him, “I’m Still Here” stands out for being a “political film without being propagandistic.“
“The film portrays the Dictatorship from an aspect that I find indestructible: the way an oppressive system, a totalitarian regime, destroys lives, families, humanities. From this perspective, ‘I’m Still Here’ sets itself apart, even though it is entirely integrated into the political moment of the country where it was produced,” explained Alberto Silva, adding that it is necessary to remember so as not to repeat.
“I think we need to talk more and more about the horrors of the Dictatorship, which caused not only political but also economic consequences. We cannot forget the violence, the devastation of human dignity. Human rights thrown to the ground and trampled by the hooves of military police horses. This cannot be forgotten,” he pointed out.
Critical Thinking Formation
Journalist from Amazonas Rebeca Almeida is also a film critic. For her, the film’s victory is “extraordinary because it is the very essence of art: to reflect reality and generate critical thinking.”
“Politically, the film has three reasons to exist: the first being to tell the life story of Eunice and Rubens Paiva, depicting how they suffered under the Military Dictatorship even after the period had ended, representing so many people who were killed, tortured, and who, to this day, remain missing. The second point is that only in 2011, with the Truth Commission created by then-President Dilma Rousseff, were more detailed documents on the Dictatorship accessed, which motivated the writing of the book that we now have adapted,” explained Rebeca, referring to the literary work “I’m Still Here” by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, published in 2015, on which the film was based.
Brazil Self-Referencing Rebeca also recalled that the film’s director, Walter Salles, commented that the film could not have been produced during the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) due to his stance. For her, the work gained more visibility because it was released in a context where Brazil had just undergone an attempted coup d’état.
“And the film, which talks about a coup d’état, gained visibility at the beginning of the year precisely when plans for a state coup after the 2022 presidential elections were revealed, so we have Brazil’s history self-referencing itself,” she noted.
According to Rebeca, this accumulation of political facts led the right-wing to consider this victory an outrage. “But the reality is that ‘I’m Still Here’ winning the Oscar while discussing the Dictatorship means that this is a story that must be told, and it emphasises the need for the Brazilian people to think critically, to acknowledge their past so that it is never repeated in the future,” she concluded.
Art Exists and Resists
At the 97th Academy Awards, held on Sunday, 2 March, in Los Angeles, California, United States, the Brazilian film “I’m Still Here” won the “Best International Feature Film” award, marking the country’s first statuette.
Directed by Walter Salles and starring Fernanda Torres and Selton Mello, the film was also nominated in the categories of “Best Actress” and “Best Picture.” Based on a book of the same name by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the film follows Eunice Paiva (Fernanda Torres), who faces the uncertainty and pain of not knowing the whereabouts of her husband, Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), a former congressman ousted after the 1964 coup and kidnapped by the government during the military regime.
Walter Salles dedicated the award to lawyer Eunice Paiva, portrayed by actress Fernanda Torres. Salles highlighted Eunice Paiva’s importance in the fight against the Military Dictatorship and in preserving memory. “I dedicate this award to Eunice Paiva, whose years of struggle for justice and memory taught us the true meaning of resistance,” he said.
For actress Giscele Damasceno, from Pará, the film tells a story of strength, of resistance, and nothing in it is superfluous. “The most beautiful thing about all of this is that no one on the team has a reactionary stance. They focus exactly on what needs to be focused on, which is the story of that family, the horror they endured. In a very poetic way, this is conveyed to us, in a way that allows us to feel the anguish along with the family, of this painful loss, but where the mother resisted for her children,” she added.
She also emphasises that the power of the film reverberates both within and beyond the screen. “It is historically proven the horror that many people lived through [during the Military Dictatorship]; there is no exaggeration, things are as they are, and this is told through an extremely rich perspective. Art exists and resists and will continue to follow its course,” she concluded.