‘I’m Still Here’ Director Walter Salles & Star Fernanda Torres On Two Emotional Golden Globes Noms And Telling A “Hidden Piece Of Brazilian History”

It’s an emotional morning for Walter Salles and Fernanda Torres, as they speak about their Golden Globes nominations. Their film I’m Still Here, directed by Salles, received a nomination in the Best Motion Picture, Non-English Language category and Torres received a nomination for her performance as well. Any nomination could make for an emotional morning, but what makes today truly special is actually two nominations that happened over two decades ago.

“It’s an emotional moment because 25 years ago, Fernanda Montenegro was nominated for Central Station and Central Station was also nominated,” says Salles. “And then this year it happens again with a film that is very dear to us and Fernanda is also recognized as her mother was, so it makes this moment really unique for us.”

Saying I’m Still Here is very dear to them is not an exaggeration for Salles, as the film exploring the determination and resilience of a mother reinventing herself after her family’s life was shattered due to the military dictatorship in 1970s Brazil hits close to home for them both.

“There was this joy in Brazil and national pride in the art of our movies and the recognition that the Golden Globes and the awards give us this feeling that Brazil has something to say to the world,” says Torres. “You see that the things that happen to us are related to things that happen in the world. That what happened with this family and the way this woman, this mother, survived and the way she faced a dictatorship is something important to the whole world.”

Salles had said previously in an interview with Deadline that just “to live was a form of resistance in that family”, though that struggle was always a hidden piece of history before. “That joy at the beginning of the film was stolen from them as the country was stolen of its future,” he says. “And now, by telling this story, it’s as if the public has access to a hidden piece of Brazilian history.”

While the awards recognition is great, both Torres and Salles are even more blown away by the audience support in Brazil. “What is incredible about this is that since the release, this film in Brazil became like a fever,” says Torres. “People are going to have a collective experience in the movies and they talk about the movies and there are some young people who didn’t understand what a dictatorship means.”

“Different generations are going to the cinema to understand where they come from, who they are, but also who they want to be,” adds Salles.