F5 Award: ‘I’m Still Here’, by Walter Salles, is chosen as film of the year

The real story of Eunice Paiva, widow of deputy Rubens Paiva, who was arrested and tortured by the military dictatorship, seems to have won the hearts of Brazilians once and for all. In addition to exploding at the box office across the country and putting Brazil back on the Oscar track, “I’m Still Here” was also a favorite among the site’s readers and won the film of the year category at the F5 Awards.

The film entered the list of 15 pre-nominated Oscar nominees for best international film, released on Tuesday (17) by the Hollywood Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The five finalists will be announced on January 17th.

The film stars Fernanda Torres, as well as Selton Mello, who plays deputy Rubens Paiva, and Fernanda Montenegro, who appears as the older version of Eunice.

Directed by Walter Salles, it was adapted from the book of the same name by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, who is played in the film by child actor Guilherme Silveira and by Antonio Saboia as an adult.

“I’m Still Here” competed for the F5 Award with the dramatic comedy “Minha Irmã e Eu”, by Susana Garcia, starring Ingrid Guimarães and Tatá Werneck; “Motel Destino”, by cult favorite Karim Aïnouz (“O Céu de Suely” and “A Vida Invisível”); “Toll Road” by Carolina Markowicz, starring Maeve Jinkings; and “The Hijacking of Flight 375” by Marcus Baldini, based on the true story that occurred in 1988.