Brazilian film “I’m Still Here,” which received three Oscar nominations, has sparked a national fervor typically associated with Carnaval or the World Cup of football, with its global success and high popularity.
But, it has also forced a new generation to reckon with the ghosts of the country’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship — whose crimes remain unpunished.
After being accused shortly after the release of the movie that former right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro attempted to orchestrate a military coup after losing the 2022 elections, the brutal era was also brought into public view.
Based on the true events of Rubens Paiva, a leftist politician who vanished in Rio de Janeiro in 1971 while supporting the dictatorship, and his wife Eunice’s search for out what happened to him, the film “I’m Still Here” is based on.
Eunice’s actress Fernanda Torres received a nomination for best actress and has already received a Golden Globe nomination.
Nearly four million Brazilians watched the movie, and it received a surprise best picture nomination and an international feature film nomination.
The country’s more than 200 million people were euphoric as a result of the nominations, which dominated news and TV shows for days.
“If we win, we’ll celebrate as if it was the World Cup”, Isabela Caetano, a 19-year-old student in downtown Sao Paulo told AFP.
A film about the present, too
A guided tour to Eunice Paiva’s tomb, which passed away in Sao Paulo in 2018, has been the subject of the movie’s success.
We must remember what her struggle has taught us about our nation today, said Mirella Rabello, a 28-year-old doctor who placed flowers at the grave.
In Rio de Janeiro, the house where “I’m Still Here” was filmed has also attracted Brazilian tourists moved by the story, based on a book by Eunice’s son Marcelo.
In front of the home in the quiet Urca neighborhood, a 55-year-old teacher Silvana Andrade said, “I’m from Brazil and I came to this house to record for my grandchildren what a film can mean for the memory of a country.”
“This film is also about our present”, director Walter Salles, known for “The Motorcycle Diaries” and “Central Station”, told AFP in a recent interview.
Bolsonaro, a retired army captain who has praised the dictatorship, and several other military leaders are being detained by the justice system over the alleged plot to obstruct President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s inauguration.
Bolsonaro asserts that he was subjected to judicial persecution and has refuted the allegations.
After the premiere of “I’m Still Here” in November, social media accounts linked to the far-right called for a boycott of the movie.
Unpunished crimes
Following the passage of an amnesty law approved in 1979 by the military regime, Brazil’s dictatorship’s crimes have continued unpunished, unlike many other Latin American nations.
According to official figures, 202 people were killed, 232 went missing, while thousands were tortured and illegally detained under the dictatorship.
Eugenia Gonzaga, president of the state Commission on Political Deaths and Disappearances, told AFP the true number of victims is likely higher.
“Today Brazil is more aware of the dictatorship, thanks to factors ranging from a film to news about a military conspiracy”, said Gonzaga.
A Supreme Court judge for the first time in December decided that corpse concealment cannot be included in the amnesty.
The entire bench must still weigh the judge’s decision, which referenced the movie “I’m Still Here.”
The courts mandated in December that those whose death certificates contain information that states that they died as a result of a state-sponsored death.
The missing will also receive death certificates.
Rubens Paiva, whose body was never found, was first issued a death certificate in 1996 — an emotional scene portrayed in the movie.
Source: Channels TV
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