“I’m Still Here,” the Brazilian film based on the true story of an ordinary woman who found herself fighting her nation’s military dictatorship, won the Oscar for best international film at the Academy Awards on Sunday.
Director Walter Salles thanked the other creators of films, which included the French nominee “Emilia Perez” and from Germany “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” and then paid tribute to the women who inspired and created the lead character in “I’m Still Here.”
“This goes to a woman who after a loss suffered during an authoritarian regime decided to resist,” Salles said. “Her name in Eunice Paiva. And it goes to the two extraordinary women who gave life to her, Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro.” (Torres plays Paiva for the bulk of the film, and Montenegro, her mother, plays Paiva late in life.)
The death of Gene Hackman at 95, discovered just days before the Academy Awards, led the annual In Memorium segment of the Oscars, with his friend and two-time costar Morgan Freeman delivering a movie eulogy before the traditional slideshow of those who died in the year since the last Oscars were held.
“This week our community lost a giant and I lost a dear friend,” Freeman said. “I had the pleasure of working alongside Gene on two films, ‘Unforgiven’ and ‘Under Suspicion.’ And like everyone who ever shared a scene with him, I learned he was a generous performer and a man whose gifts elevated everyone’s work.
“Gene always said, ‘I don’t think about legacy, I just hope people remember me as someone who tried to do good work,’” he continued. “So I think I speak for us all when I say, ‘Gene, you’ll be remembered for that and for so much more. Rest in peace, my friend.”
As the orchestra played a somber melody, the faces of big stars such as Maggie Smith, James Earl Jones, and Shelley Duval, as well as behind-the-camera luminaries such as director David Lynch, producer Jon Landau, songwriter Richard M. Sherman, and cinema operator Robert Laemmle flashed across the screen.
“The Brutalist,” meanwhile, picked up its first two Oscars with wins for best cinematography for Lol Crawley and best original score for Daniel Blumberg.
In one of the fun twists to this year’s show, stars from several of the craft categories, including cinematography and costume design, announced the nominees, with actor Joe Alwyn announcing “The Brutalist” and greeting Crawley with a hug when he reached the stage.