‘I’m Still Here’ Spotlights Brazil’s Authoritarian Past

Fernanda Torres poses with the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama for "I'm Still Here" at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
Fernanda Torres poses with the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama for "I'm Still Here" at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
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‘I’m Still Here’ Spotlights Brazil’s Authoritarian Past

Fernanda Torres poses with the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama for "I'm Still Here" at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
Fernanda Torres poses with the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama for "I'm Still Here" at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, US, January 5, 2025. (Reuters)

A white house in a quiet corner of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has been attracting a stream of visitors in recent weeks.

They are eager to see the family home portrayed in the Academy Awards nominee film "I’m Still Here", in which a mother of five rebuilds her life while struggling to uncover the truth about her husband's forced disappearance during Brazil’s military regime in the 1970s.

"We came here to pay homage to the family," said visitor Daniela Gurgel, as she roamed through the house. "Raising this story at this time is very important."

The film's three Oscar nominations - best picture, best international feature, and best lead actress - cast a global spotlight on both the real story of Eunice Paiva and her husband Rubens Paiva, and the authoritarian government that upended their lives. The military ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985.

"Seeing the world watch this story is the recognition of a struggle that my family has been fighting for over 50 years," said Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the son of Eunice and Rubens and the author of the book on which the movie is based.

This struggle, he added, is one "for respect for human rights and democracy."

Brazil's dictatorship ended four decades ago but no one has ever been held accountable for the murder of hundreds of its critics or the torture of what many believe were tens of thousands. Even Rubens Paiva's disappearance, one of the most emblematic cases of human rights abuse of that time, is still an open case before Brazil's Supreme Court. His body was never found.

In 2010, the court upheld a 1979 law, passed during the dictatorship, that pardoned the crimes committed by the regime. But prosecutors and others who oppose the ruling still have cases pending before the court, including Paiva's.

On Friday, the Brazilian government provided families some relief.

Rubens Paiva's death certificate was amended to register that the cause of his death was "unnatural, violent, caused by the Brazilian State in the context of systematic persecution of the population identified as political dissidents of the dictatorial regime established in 1964".

Actress Fernanda Torres, who plays Eunice Paiva in the movie, said: "They did everything they could so that there would be no body, so that there would be no memory, so that it would not be spoken of, so that it would remain hidden in a corner."

But, she added: "This story will not be forgotten."

More than 400 other death certificates from victims of the military dictatorship all over Brazil will be rectified in an effort led by the Special Commission on Political Deaths and Disappearances under former human rights minister Nilmario Miranda.

"The film came as a gift from heaven for us, because it deals with a political disappearance," Miranda said. "The families feel that Brazil needs it. This debt to democracy is being redeemed now."



Taylor Swift Wins Recording Artist of the Year Crown for Fifth Time

Taylor Swift attends an in conversation with Taylor Swift event at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9, 2022. (AP)
Taylor Swift attends an in conversation with Taylor Swift event at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9, 2022. (AP)
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Taylor Swift Wins Recording Artist of the Year Crown for Fifth Time

Taylor Swift attends an in conversation with Taylor Swift event at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9, 2022. (AP)
Taylor Swift attends an in conversation with Taylor Swift event at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 9, 2022. (AP)

Taylor Swift has been named global recording artist of the year for 2024 by the IFPI, the fifth time she has won the honor from the organization that represents the recorded music industry.

The megastar's "The Tortured Poets Department" record also topped four IFPI charts - global album, global vinyl album, global streaming album and global album sales, the IFPI said in a statement on Tuesday.

It had a strong lead on the 2024 global album sales chart, which calculates physical purchases and full album downloads, with 5.6 million units. K-pop group ENHYPEN's "Romance: Untold" took the second spot with 3.4 million units sold.

Swift's record-breaking "Eras" tour, the first to surpass $1 billion in revenue, also boosted interest in her past records, with several appearing in the 2024 vinyl album and streaming album charts, the IFPI said.

"This has been a huge year for Taylor, and it has been incredible to see the extent to which fans all over the world are connecting with her superb catalogue of music," IFPI Chief Executive Victoria Oakley said.

Swift was first named IFPI global recording artist of the year in 2014 and then in 2019, 2022 and 2023, the most times for any performer since the award was introduced 12 years ago.

Presented to whoever tops the IFPI global artist chart, the prize is calculated by looking at an artist's or group's worldwide sales for streaming, download and physical music formats during the calendar year and covers their whole body of work, according to the organization.

Canadian rapper Drake and K-pop group SEVENTEEN came in second and third respectively on that chart for 2024.