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Brazil was once again officially mentioned in conversations about the Oscars, for the first time since 2008, this Tuesday (17).
The production “I’m Still Here“, by Walter Salles, entered the pre-list for Best International Film at the award, and ended a 16-year fast. The last time Brazilian cinema was remembered in the category was in 2008, when the country had its name on the shortlist with the film “The Year My Parents Went on Vacation”, at the time called Best Foreign Film.
Selton Mello, Fernanda Torres and Walter Salles at the premiere of “I’m Still Here” at the Venice Film Festival/Photo: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
With this, “I’m Still Here” advances to the so-called Phase 2 of the campaign, when Oscar voters choose the finalists in each category. In 2008, Cao Hamburger’s film was left out of the official selection, and Brazil was not represented at the ceremony. In 2025, however, the expectation is for a different outcome.
Currently, according to the main specialized vehicles, such as The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Deadline and others, “I’m Still Here” is one of the main names in the race for the category.
“The competition for Best International Film this year begins with two open spots, as three places are practically guaranteed: one for ‘Emilia Pérez’, from France, another for ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’, from Germany, and the third for ‘I’m Still Here’”, observes critic, researcher and influencer Waldemar Dalenogare to CNN.
The producer of “I’m Still Here”, Rodrigo Teixeira, shares this opinion. “I believe we will be nominated. Our film, ‘Emilia Pérez’ and ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ are the main international titles of the year”, he states.
But what makes the production starring Fernanda Torres so popular in the race for an award that Brazil has not competed for since 1999, when “Central do Brasil” was defeated by “A Vida é Bela”? A huge international platform, a major distributor and a million-dollar campaign.
It all started in the City of Love
“I’m Still Here” had its international premiere at the 2024 Venice Festival, one of the biggest in the world, and is increasingly popular with award voters. In addition to being part of the official selection, he also secured the award for Best Screenplay for Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega.
Just being mentioned at one of cinema’s biggest events is enough to put the film one step ahead of other competitors. But this is not the only factor.
“It is necessary to do a lot of work to get voters to see the film, because there are many titles”, highlights Juliana Sakae, a specialist in Oscar campaigns for independent films.
As a curiosity, this year, 89 international productions were submitted to the category. “There are many films. But when a production goes through a renowned festival and receives a seal, this brings more support and arouses curiosity”, he explains.
She points out that, for films in a foreign language, the process usually begins at a large festival, as happened with “I’m Still Here” in Venice: “That’s when the international market has its eyes open for the titles that should be present in the film season. awards.”
Sakae also highlights that international films can gain strength in the race if they have professionals involved who have already been nominated or are on the commercial circuit in the United States. “I’m Still Here” will have a week of showings in New York and Los Angeles starting January 17th and will hit theaters across the country on February 14th.
The production also bears the name of Walter Salles, one of the most prestigious Brazilian filmmakers in the United States. He directed films such as “Central do Brasil”, nominated for an Oscar, “The Motorcycle Diaries”, starring Gael García Bernal, “Água Negra”, with Jennifer Connelly, and “Pé na Estrada”, with Kristen Stewart.
North American player support
Another point in favor of the film about Eunice Paiva is the support of Sony Pictures Classics, a distributor with a history of awarding.
In recent years, the label has received nominations for films such as “The Teacher’s Room”, “My Father”, “Pain and Glory”, “Capernaum” and “Never Stop Remembering”. In addition, he won the award for Best International Film for “A Fantastic Woman” in 2018.
“It is essential to have a distributor that has the know-how to operate in the United States. Brazil has faced great difficulties in this aspect for more than two decades”, highlights Waldemar Dalenogare. “In most cases, the film had no distribution in the United States, and a campaign is extremely expensive. When the film already arrives with a distributor, that makes all the difference.”
Sony Pictures Classics’ support was announced in May this year, when the distributor acquired the rights to the film during negotiations in Cannes. “The Sony team has been fundamental in the campaign, with the support of many professionals. We also hire other public relations professionals in different markets”, explains producer Rodrigo Teixeira.
Since then, the main names behind the film have participated in numerous festivals around the world, such as in San Sebastián, Toronto, New York and London, where they spoke to journalists and the specialized press, posed for magazine covers and strived to ensure that Oscar voters watch the film.
“The first step is that the film needs to be seen, there is no secret”, highlights Teixeira. “We are organizing screenings and making the film available on the Oscar platform. It has achieved visibility, people are watching. Now, the more the film is shown and watched, the greater the chances of getting nominations, including in several categories.”
The film’s campaign also aims for nominations in other important categories, such as Best Editing, Best Supporting Actor for Selton Mello, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director for Walter Salles and Best Actress for Fernanda Torres.
Many dollars
All material for the press and the market, as well as the events for the adaptation of Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s book, advertisements in magazines and newspapers, and other actions necessary for an Oscar campaign, involve high costs.
“A simple magazine ad during awards season, for example, can cost up to five figures. And as just one ad is not enough, it is necessary to multiply this value, not counting the variation in the dollar”, highlights Juliana Sakae, who worked on Oscar campaigns for films such as “Babenco” and “Deserto Particular”, which were candidates from Brazil. to the award in 2021 and 2022.
“It is not possible to estimate an exact value, as it is practically a Hollywood film campaign. These are costs that involve closed sessions, festivals, chats, trips to events, and features in publications such as Variety and Deadline. I don’t think even the producers themselves are able to specify a number”, explains Waldemar Dalenogare.
“But with Sony’s logistics, these costs decrease, which is why the support of a player like this in the market is so important.”
The expert also points out that the “I’m Still Here” campaign is the largest ever carried out in the history of Brazil.
Love it or hate it
All the efforts of the “Still I’m Here” team to promote the film at the biggest cinema event have a very symbolic value: helping the Brazilian industry as a whole.
“There are those who love or despise the Oscar, and I, personally, think that we know that the award needs to improve. We know that the Oscars often do not value international films as they should”, says Juliana Sakae. “An Oscar opens doors, not only for the film, but also for the team and the filmmaker, especially for those who come after. For example, ‘City of God’ opened a gigantic door for Brazilian cinema.”
To achieve this, however, the expert highlights that the country, as a whole, needs to understand, as do other institutions, that a campaign for the Oscars is important for Brazilian cinema, which is exposed to the world. “Countries like Argentina, Poland and France have already understood this very well, for example. Brazil still needs to understand this importance”, he adds.
The campaign specialist says that mentioning the award can help secure partnerships for the production of other films.
According to Waldemar Dalenogare, this visibility will be crucial both for the industry and internally. “I really hope that ‘I’m Still Here’ is nominated, as I believe that this could open a window for the rediscovery of Brazilian cinema outside the country. Often, people want to watch films, but they don’t have wide access, as distribution is limited”, he highlights.
With or without a prize, producer Rodrigo Teixeira is already celebrating. “I think it is a demonstration that the Brazilian system makes good cinema. Today, we have a quality of cinema that hasn’t been seen for a long time,” he says.
“We have many good directors making incredible films, as well as many high-quality professionals working. Therefore, I believe that Brazil will grow a lot in this area”, he highlights. “I believe that the award really validates Brazil, especially Brazilian audiovisual production”, he concludes.
