‘I’m Still Here’: The Brazilian film sensation that made history at the Golden Globes

The only actress among the Golden Globe nominees for Best Actress in a Drama Film who could easily walk unnoticed through the streets of Los Angeles — or half the world — took home the award last Sunday. Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, 59, star of Ainda Estou Aqui (I’m Still Here), won the honor for her role in the true story of a woman whose husband disappeared during the military dictatorship in the early 1970s. She triumphed over a powerhouse lineup of nominees: Kate Winslet, Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Tilda Swinton, and Pamela Anderson.

Brazil celebrated this historic win: it’s first ever victory in the category. The film has become a cultural phenomenon in the country: drawing three million viewers in just two months. I’m Still Here delves into a past trauma that resonates powerfully in the present — its release coincides with the second anniversary of the January 6 attack on Brasília’s seat of power and the ongoing investigation into former president Jair Bolsonaro, an ex-general nostalgic for the dictatorship era, for orchestrating the attempted coup.

I’m Still Here, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Walter Salles, premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2024, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the military coup carried out under the banner of anti-communism. For Brazilians who endured the presidencies of military generals (1964–1985), the film is a way to revisit a collective trauma. For younger generations, it serves as an invitation to confront the “years of lead,” a period Bolsonaro has frequently downplayed. After a December screening in a São Paulo cinema, the audience erupted into applause. A group of young women, none of whom were alive in 1971 when the story begins, chanted, “Ditadura, nunca mais!” (“Dictatorship, never again!”).

The film begins in 1971, portraying the life of lawyer Eunice Paiva (played by Fernanda Torres) and her husband, Deputy Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), who had been removed from office by the military. They lead a seemingly idyllic life with their five children in a beautiful beachfront home in Rio de Janeiro, as though the dictatorship were a distant reality. Eunice remains unaware of her husband’s clandestine political activities until their lives are violently upended. One day, plainclothes officers invade their peaceful routine of beach outings, social gatherings, and family joys to arrest the couple and one of their daughters.

Based on the eponymous book by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, one of the couple’s children, the film is told through the perspective of Eunice. Rubens Paiva began writing it when he realized that both his mother, suffering from Alzheimer’s, and Brazil were beginning to lose their memory.

Shot in a vintage style, the film evokes the look and feel of Super 8 footage from its era. It intertwines the lawyer’s struggle to find her husband with her efforts to support her family, culminating in her transformation into a fierce advocate for the rights of the people who were disappeared during the dictatorship and of Indigenous people. Variety described the film as a “profoundly moving sense-memory portrait of a family — and a nation — ruptured.”

Torres won the Golden Globe for her performance, a success that came partly by chance — she took on the role of Eunice after another actress withdrew. In her acceptance speech, she dedicated the award to her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, the 95-year-old grande dame of Brazilian acting. Montenegro herself nearly won the same award 25 years ago for her performance in Central Station, also directed by Walter Salles. That film ultimately missed out on the award.

For Brazilians and for the Torres-Montenegro family, the award for I’m Still Here and Torres are particularly sweet. The revered Fernanda Montenegro portrays the elderly Eunice in a brief but powerful role, acting solely with her eyes. After her daughter’s win, Montenegro reflected on the challenges artists from below the equator face in gaining international recognition in the Global North.

Political, but restrained

By coincidence, Torres’ Golden Globe win came on the anniversary of the assault on the U.S. Capitol and just two days after the anniversary of the attack on Brasília. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva skillfully used the film as a centerpiece of the event commemorating the January 8, 2023, assault. “We are still here,” the leftist president declared with pride, championing democracy, dialogue with dissenters, and punishment for the guilty.

While the film’s subject matter is undeniably political, it maintains a restrained tone. As the editorialist of O Globo — the newspaper arm of the film’s co-producer, Globo Group — put it, the film is “a story told in a non-pamphletary manner that moves and teaches.”

Rubens Paiva has said that the 2014 Truth Commission was crucial to reconstructing the darkest chapter of his family’s history.

Country of dynasties

A reflection of the extent to which Brazil remains a nation of dynasties is found in the duo of Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro. Torres has built a career that shines on its own merits, earning professional recognition without being overshadowed by the exceptional talent of her mother, Montenegro.

Less often discussed, however, is the background of director Walter Salles. A celebrated and multi-awarded filmmaker, known for works such as Diarios de Motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries, 2004) and Terra Estrangeira (Foreign Land, 1995), Salles comes from one of Brazil’s wealthiest families. His inherited fortune has placed him among the richest filmmakers in the world, with family businesses spanning banking and mining. One of his brothers, João Moreira Salles, founded Piauí, often likened to Brazil’s New Yorker, while another brother, Pedro, serves as president of Itaú Bank.

Though Brazil is vast and densely populated, it is perhaps unsurprising that Salles has known the Paiva family his entire life. Yet the interconnections of people’s paths remain striking. Former president Jair Bolsonaro grew up in Eldorado, São Paulo — a city where the Paiva family owned a farm and substantial land, and where Rubens Paiva’s father once served as mayor.

According to Retrato Narrado, an audio profile of Bolsonaro (available in Spanish), as a teenager Bolsonaro harbored deep resentment and obsession toward the Paiva family. His decision to join the army was influenced by witnessing a dramatic operation in Eldorado to capture one of the era’s most wanted guerrilla fighters.

Although Brazil’s 2014 Truth Commission identified those responsible for the murder of Rubens Paiva, justice was never fully served. Five military officers were charged, but the cases remained unresolved. Three of the accused have since died, yet the remaining two, along with the families of the deceased, continue to receive military pensions. According to ICL Notícias via the Transparency Portal, these pensions amount to a total cost of around $22,500 per month to the Brazilian state — a revelation brought to light following the success of I’m Still Here.

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