Brazil makes history at the 2025 Oscars
On the 2nd of March this year, millions of Brazilians watched on with pride as Ainda Estou Aqui, starring Fernanda Torres, made history as the first Brazilian film to take home the Oscar for best International film, a first in the history of Brazilian cinema.
With the Oscars landing right in the middle of this year’s carnival festivities, the celebration of national pride extended beyond the usual showers of glitter and sequins this year.
On the Sunday of Carnival, millions of Brazilians celebrated as Ainda Estou Aqui (I’m Still Here) won the Oscar for best international film. Ainda Estou Aqui has received a large scale recognition worldwide, and has reignited discourse surrounding a very dark period in Brazilian history: the military dictatorship from 1964-1985.
“I think she’s still here, through this film”
The film is directed by Walter Salles, who also directed the Oscar nominated film Central Do Brasil staring Oscar nominee Fernanda Montenegro over 25 years prior. Torres plays the role of protagonist Eunice Paiva, a mother of an upper-class family of five living in Rio de Janeiro, who were torn apart at the hands of the authoritarian military dictatorship that raged through Brazil in the late 20th century. She later becomes a lawyer and human rights activist following the kidnapping and subsequent murder of her husband Rubens Paiva, a high-profile left-wing congressman. The story follows Eunice on her journey through holding her family together whilst ferociously pursuing justice for her husband during a time of violence, uncertainty and brutality.
Torres has been praised for her humility despite her large scale success, as she continues to bring the attention back to Eunice and the significance behind her story. The film successfully encompasses the atrocities committed against thousands of innocent people during the cold war and the military dictatorship in Brazil, whilst conveying the stoic demonstration of strength of Brazilian people who were suffering so greatly. The story of a seemingly normal family in Rio de Janeiro suddenly being torn apart by the state allowed the Brazilian people to connect with the character of Eunice, who in the face of adversity did not let herself crack and remained strong for her children.
Torres explained in an interview with CNN that the difficulty with this role is that, typically, “as an actor you want to show emotion, but in the case of Eunice, you have to restrain them.” Watching the progression, particularly of a woman at that time, go from mother to lawyer and activist at the later age of 46 as a widow with five children, is a testament to the importance of democracy as well as having feminist connotations in an environment where even today woman still struggle to achieve equal recognition.
The success of this film is a huge step forward for the Brazilian film industry, but arguably an even greater leap for those still fighting for justice to this day for the crimes committed during the military regime. Speaking at the Virtuoso Awards, Torres explains how she believes that “even after her death, I think she [Eunice] is still here, through this film”. Her performance transcends the suffering of millions of people and embodies the determination of which Brazilian people are so proud of, sparking a national period of reflection both across the country but also internationally.
A family affair
Fernanda Torres, an already successfully established comedian, writer and actress, stunned viewers as she so excellently pursued her most dramatic yet sincere role. However, in order to achieve a more in depth understanding of what Fernanda Torres means to Brazilians, it is also fundamental to understand the legacy she is following, that being of her mother, Fernanda Montenegro.
Montenegro has been deemed by many to be the greatest Brazilian actress of all time, and plays the role of Eunice Paiva alongside her daughter, Fernanda Torres. She is the only other Brazilian to also be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress prior to her daughter.
The significance of mother and daughter portraying Eunice alongside each other stretches beyond the fact they are both internationally established actors – it is about the endurance and transmission of justice throughout history. At an interview at the Virtuoso Awards, Torres explains how the protagonist Eunice raised Marcelo, the writer of the book on which the film is based, and Fernanda Montenegro raised her, a phenomenon that reflects this message of transmission, as well as “the endurance of art, of justice through time, made through love, through joy, through art.”
‘Ainda Estou Aqui’ is currently being shown in cinemas across Brazil until the 6th of April 2025, when it will later be available on Globoplay.
Author: Grace Keeling
Photo by Samuel Ramos, available on Unsplash