The subtlety and dignity of Fernanda Torres’s Oscar-nominated performance have been rightly praised. She plays Eunice Paiva, who had to keep her family together and shield her five children when her husband was “disappeared”. The realisation that he has gone for good is a gradual process that plays out in a performance of extraordinary intelligence and emotional complexity.
It was a personal project for Salles. As a child in Rio, he was a close friend of the Paiva children and so, in developing his approach to the film, he had access to the considerable Paiva archive of photos and home videos along with Marcelo’s memoir.
Meticulous in its period detail, I’m Still Here unfolds in a vividly evoked early 1970s Rio, with two later chapters set in 1996 and 2014. A terrific soundtrack balances the irreverent energy of Brazilian Tropicália artistes against a pensive brooding score by Warren Ellis.
The film’s title refers both to the family’s refusal to be silenced and to the enduring legacy of those who’ve been lost.
Among the 54 accolades it received worldwide, the film won Best International Feature at the 2025 Academy Awards and Best Screenplay at the 81st Venice International Film Festival in 2024. Fernanda Torres won the Best Actress Award at the Golden Globes in January 2025.
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