"Brazil on Screen: 'I'm Still Here' Sparks a Cultural and Political Dialogue"

DeepLab joined the recent wave of cheering for Brazilian cinema prompted by Walter Salles’s I’m Still Here (2024). Dr Marina Frid joined journalist Fernanda Vieira for a Q&A session organised by the Lighthouse Cinema with the support of the Embassy of Brazil to discuss Brazilian culture and politics during the period depicted in the film.

I’m Still Here, an adaptation of the homonymous book by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, recounts the case of the forced disappearance of Rubens Beyrodt Paiva, an engineer and former congressman murdered by government agents in 1971 during the military dictatorship (1964-1985) in Brazil. The film focuses on his wife Eunice Paiva, played by Fernanda Torres, who for decades fought to have her husband’s death officially recognised by the state while reinventing herself and becoming a human rights lawyer specialised in indigenous rights. Receiving enthusiastic reviews, the film led Brazil back to the international awards circuit in 2025.

During the Q&A session, Dr Frid discussed cultural movements and events in Brazil, the broader context of the Cold War, and political developments in the country under the authoritarian regime. Ambassador Flávio Helmold Macieira attended the screening and the Q&A with his wife, Mrs. Josiane Macieira, and diplomat João Marcelo Costa Melo.