Oscar: remember Brazil’s last nomination for Best International Film

The film “I’m Still Here ” was nominated this Thursday (23) for an Oscar in the category of Best International Film. The indication marks the end of a 26-year fast since the country last received Academy recognition.

In 1999, Brazil shone on the red carpet at the Dolby Theater with “Central do Brasil“, representing international talents at the Oscars. At the time, the film was nominated in the Best Foreign Film category (currently called Best International Film) and made history by nominating Fernanda Montenegro which became the first Latina woman to be recognized nominated for Best Actress.

What weighed against “Central do Brasil” at the Oscars that year was the strong competition from “A Vida É Bela” an Italian film that was a big hit this season. “Life Is Beautiful” won the awards for Best Foreign Film, Best Actor for Roberto Benigni and Best Soundtrack, in addition to receiving nominations in the categories of Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing.

The film’s cast, with Fernanda Montenegro, Marília Pêra and Matheus Nachtergaele, also received critical recognition on the international and national circuit. Among the screenwriters was João Emanuel Carneiro, responsible for the soap operas “Da Cor do Pecado”, “Cobras & Lagartos” and “A Favorita”.

“The restart of cinema, at that moment, was marked by the desire to rediscover a Brazilian reflection on the screen, to give voice to something unspoken that had been repressed. The letters that punctuate the film respond to this perception. Joshua’s search for his father is also his search for a country. Dora’s trajectory in the film is clearly a process of re-sensitization, after 25 years of military dictatorship and the Collor years”, commented Walter Salles about the film in an interview with Folha de S.Paulo in 2018.

Plot of “Central do Brasil”

The plot revolves around Dora (Fernanda Montenegro), a retired teacher who works as a letter writer for illiterate people at Estação Central do Brasil, in Rio de Janeiro. However, she often loses patience with her clients and does not send the letters she writes, putting them in a drawer or tearing them up.

In this role he meets Josué (Vinicius de Oliveira), whose mother hired Dora’s services to look for the boy’s father. When leaving the station, the woman is run over and dies, leaving the child alone. Dora then decides to help Josué find his father, going with him on an adventure to the interior of the northeast.

The story was inspired by Socorro Nobre, a former inmate who wrote letters to illiterate inmates while incarcerated. His story was told to Walter Salles by a mutual artist friend, inspiring him to create the film.

Awards

It was nominated for an Oscar in the categories of “Best foreign film” and “Best actress”, for Fernanda Montenegro. Node Golden Globe won as “Best foreign film” and received a nomination for “Best actress in a dramatic film”, also for Montenegro.

Furthermore, it won recognition at Bafta (British Academy Film Awards) as “Best Foreign Film” and the Golden Bear and Silver Bear to Montenegro at the Berlin Festival.

In total, “Central do Brasil” received 17 awards in 16 events, seven of which went to the protagonist.

Where to watch

“Central do Brasil” is available on Globoplayin Apple TVin Prime Video and in Google Play Movies.

Watch the trailer for “Central do Brasil”:

“I’m Still Here” is nominated for the 2025 Oscar: discover all the films that competed for International Film

This content was originally published in Oscar: remember Brazil’s last nomination for Best International Film on the CNN Brasil website.

Source: CNN Brasil

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