I'm Still Here (2024 film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids I'm Still Here
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Walter Salles
Produced by	Maria Carlota Bruno Rodrigo Teixeira Martine de Clermont-Tonnerre
Screenplay by	Murilo Hauser Heitor Lorega
Starring	Fernanda Torres Selton Mello Fernanda Montenegro
Music by	Warren Ellis
Cinematography	Adrian Teijido
Editing by	Affonso Gonçalves
Studio	VideoFilmes RT Features Mact Productions Arte France Cinéma Conspiração Globoplay
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing (Brazil) StudioCanal (France)
Release date(s)	1 September 2024 (2024-09-01) (Venice) 7 November 2024 (2024-11-07) (Brazil) 15 January 2025 (2025-01-15) (France)
Running time	135 minutes
Country	Brazil France
Language	Portuguese
Budget	R$8 million (US$1.48 million)
Money made	US$14.2 million

I'm Still Here (Portuguese: Ainda Estou Aqui ) is a 2024 political biographical drama film directed by Walter Salles from a screenplay by Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega, based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva's 2015 memoir of the same name. It stars Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro as Eunice Paiva, a mother and activist coping with the forced disappearance of her husband, the dissident politician Rubens Paiva, during the military dictatorship in Brazil. Soon after its release in Brazilian theaters on 7 November 2024 by Sony Pictures Releasing International, the film was the target of an unsuccessful boycott by the Brazilian far-right. Grossing $14.1 million on a $1.5 million production budget, it became the highest-grossing Brazilian film since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The film had its world premiere on 1 September 2024 at the 81st Venice International Film Festival where it received critical acclaim with unanimous praise towards Torres' performance, winning the Best Screenplay award. It was named one of the Top 5 International Films of 2024 by the National Board of Review. At the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, Torres won the Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama category while the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, a category in which it was also nominated at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards and the BAFTA. At the 97th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best International Feature Film, Best Actress (Torres) and Best Picture, becoming the first Brazilian produced film to ever be nominated in that category.

Plot

In 1970, former congressman Rubens Paiva returns to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after six years of self-exile following the revocation of his tenure at the outset of the 1964 Brazilian coup d'état. Living in an idyllic house near Leblon beach with his wife Eunice and their five children, Paiva returns to his civil career while continuing to support expatriates without discussing his activities with his family.

Following the kidnapping of the Swiss ambassador by far-left revolutionary movements, the country faces a looming political instability. A military raid takes place in Paiva's house, resulting in his arrest and disappearance in January 1971. Eunice's public inquiries on Rubens' whereabouts results in her arrest for 12 days. Eliana, their teenage daughter, is also imprisoned but is released after 24 hours. After moderate media outrage ignited by family and friends, Eunice is unofficially informed of Rubens' fate.

25 years later, in 1996, Eunice receives from the Brazilian state — now once again a democracy — Rubens Paiva's official death certificate. In 2014, during a family gathering surrounded by her children and grandchildren, the now 85-year-old Eunice lives with advanced Alzheimer's disease. When a news report about the National Truth Commission addresses Rubens' case, a distressed Eunice appears to remember her past.

Closing title cards reveals that Paiva was murdered at the DOI-CODI headquarters between 21 and 22 January 1971. Five people were identified as responsible, yet they were never prosecuted. Eunice graduated from law school at age 48. She became one of few experts on Indigenous Rights, serving as a counselor for the Federal Government, the World Bank, and the United Nations. She passed in 2018 at the age of 89.

Cast

Production

The screenplay was written by Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega, and adapted from the memoir Ainda Estou Aqui by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, Eunice's son. Hauser also co-wrote the screenplay for Karim Aïnouz's The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão (2019) based on the novel of the same name by Martha Batalha.

Principal photography began in June 2023 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The film was produced by RT Features and VideoFilmes in co-production with Globoplay, Mact Productions, Conspiração Filmes and Arte France Cinéma.

Release

Director Walter Salles and lead actress Fernanda Torres promoting I'm Still Here at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival

In May 2024, Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights to I'm Still Here in North America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Turkey, Portugal, Australia, and New Zealand at the Marché du Film.

The film had its world premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival on 1 September 2024, receiving a standing ovation of over 10 minutes; it was nominated for the Golden Lion and won the Best Screenplay prize. It was also screened at the Toronto, New York, and London film festivals in September and October. It was featured in the Limelight section of the 54th International Film Festival Rotterdam to be screened in February 2025.

To qualify for the Best International Feature Film category at the 97th Academy Awards, the film was given a limited theatrical run in the Brazilian city of Salvador from 19 to 25 September 2024, followed by a nationwide release on 7 November 2024 by Sony Pictures Releasing.

I'm Still Here was released in France on 15 January 2025 by StudioCanal. In the United States, the film received a one-week awards-qualifying run in November 2024 and received a limited theatrical release in New York City and Los Angeles on 17 January 2025, before expanding to more cities on 14 February.

See also

In Spanish: Aún estoy aquí (película de 2024) para niños