In cinemas March 13

At the 82^nd Golden Globes Awards ceremony on January 6, a Brazilian actress, Fernanda Torres won the best actor award for her role in I’m Still Here. This event achieved extra attention because Brazilians celebrated the achievement on the internet as if the country had won the FIFA World Cup. The internet was flooded with memes, videos, movie clips and highly emotional statements. 

Now the celebrations have restarted because Torres and the movie have been nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best International Feature Film at the 2025 Oscars on March 3. 

As a Brazilian, I can vouch for the country’s ability to turn all kinds of achievements into a big party, and anyone who spends any time surfing the net realises that Brazilians have a  disproportionately high internet presence. Nevertheless, this Golden Globes award brought forward important political discussions to be considered by the movie industry and broader society.

The movie and the road to the awards

Fernanda Torres was the first Iberoamerican to win a Golden Globe award as a main actor in a movie. Other greats, such as Antonio Banderas, Javier Barden or Penelope Cruz did not achieve it before her. This is a good reminder that despite all the marketing, these awards are not international in nature but aimed at promoting and rewarding American cinema with some small exceptions for western European countries. For instance, the main competitor of I’m still here for best movie in a foreign language was the movie Emilia Perez, a movie musical about a fictional Mexican drug dealer that has mostly Americans and only one Mexican in its cast. Looking closely, the movie is not far from a Hollywood production.

An even more significant example for Brazilians happened 25 years ago, when Fernanda Montenegro (Brazil’s most celebrated actress and Fernanda Torres’ mother) became the first Latin American actress to be nominated for an Oscar. She lost it to Gwyneth Paltrow (or to Harvey Weinstein depending on your levels of cynicism when interpreting the events). At that time the Brazilian movie nominated for an Oscar was Central Station, another great work from the director Walter Salles, better known by the English-speaking public for his movie The Motorcycle Diaries. 

For Fernanda Torres to achieve recognition at the Golden Globes, many social and economic privileges had to be combined, and the irony of this situation has been pointed out by left wing critics of I’m Still Here in Brazil. 

For a story from the periphery of the imperialist centre to be visible to the empire, it is necessary that it combines excellence and considerable financial power behind a narrative that can be understood by imperialist elites. Walter Salles is probably one of the best movie directors in Brazil, he is also well connected in Hollywood and the son of a banker. Fernanda Torres is one of the most talented actresses in Brazil and the daughter of the biggest star in the country. Finally, the movie tells the true story of a former politician-turned progressive journalist and his family.  The narrative is of his disappearance, torture and murder during the coup era,  similar to so many other Brazilians from less influential families whose stories will likely never be told. 

It is important to understand these variables, not to undermine the movie but to not be tricked into believing the liberal and inclusive fairytale movie awards try to sell. They will only reward art that resembles what they would produce themselves, and even then, only in exceptional circumstances. 

The military dictatorship context 

Brazil was under a military dictatorship between 1964 and 1984 after a coup that removed President Joao Goulart from power, ‘to stop the spread of communism’ according to the media at the time and recent documents published from the CIA, which was a great supporter of the operation. 

The Brazilian Communist party was made illegal (again), and they opted to avoid direct combat with the military. Many socialist and communist groupings disagreed with that strategy and chose to engage in armed urban guerilla warfare. Those groups often brought together university students and those expelled from the armed forces after the coup. One of their characteristic moves was the kidnapping of ambassadors to negotiate the release of comrades captured in previous actions. The coup only ended with mass protests and general strikes, many led by now-president, Luiz Lula da Silva (Lula) in 1984. The first open elections for president only took place in 1989.

In the movie we see former left wing congressman Rubens Paiva who had been an exile in Europe after the coup return to Brazil taking up work as a journalist only to be arrested after one of the combat groups kidnaps an ambassador. Paiva disappears and his family spends the following decades searching for him. His wife Eunice became a symbol of the fight for democracy and truth regarding the horrors of the dictatorship. It is calculated that around 500 people died or disappeared under the rule of the Brazilian military junta, likely all tortured and killed at the hands of the state.

The search for Truth

The movie is based on a book of the same name written by the son of Eunice and Rubens, Marcelo Rubens Paiva, who is a famous author in his own right. The book is relatively new as the author felt he did not have the information needed to write this story properly until information came to light through the National Truth Commission.

As the Brazilian dictatorship ended with an attempted peaceful transition and not the military power being overthrown, a compromise was established that both sides would receive amnesty, so the citizens in exile could return without persecution and no agent of the government would be prosecuted. It was only when Dilma Rousseff became president that the Truth Commission was established to try to find the whereabouts of those missing and give families some answers. Dilma is herself a survivor of torture and she was very committed to this project. There are many political analyses that see the Truth Commission as one of the main reasons for her impeachment and for the rapid organisation of important segments of the armed forces behind the candidacy and government of Jair Bolsonaro.

Brazil’s failure to deal with its past largely contributes to the country’s acceptance of far-right discourse and some of its fascistic tendencies. The armed forces have maintained their popular prestige, political leaders never lost access to the military structure and torturers and murderers have never left the force. The torturers stayed on the payroll and their oppressive techniques have started being used by the military police against the working class. It is unsurprising those once connected to the military coup behave as if they are entitled to hold on to power.

The Future

In January 2023, the movie Argentina, 1985 won the best foreign language film award at the  Golden Globes and it was later nominated for an Academy Award. It portrayed the prosecution and conviction of the military leaders of the Argentinian dictatorship. Argentina’s process of accountability is the envy of countries like Brazil. The movie’s award was Argentina’s opportunity to be reminded of its history of defeating the enemies of the people. Later that same year, the far rightist Javier Milei won the presidency while minimising the dictatorship and making fun of the ‘Mothers of Plaza de Mayo’. 

The lesson here is that history will not stop and wait for us to correct our mistakes or learn how to reconnect with great deeds from the past. Art can spark important discussions and motivate change, but it cannot make change happen, only people collectively organised can do it. I’m Still Here is not the first Brazilian movie of this kind, but it is a timely one and potentially one with the biggest star power. Movie awards are not only an opportunity for Brazilians to party (we will find a reason to do it regardless). It is an opportunity to resurface the discussion about the horrors of the CIA-backed dictatorship, and a motivator to strengthen the collective organising around demanding that Lula reopens the Truth Commission as he promised when re-elected and the fight to reform the armed forces. 

Finally, if you see Brazilians talking about this movie online remember to join the discussion and add your disapproval for the amnesty of the armed forces torturers and murderers that are still influencing the military to this day by writing #semanistia.