The director of “I’m still here” , Walter Salles spoke to CNN About how the film portrays theft of a life with the disappearance of Rubens Paiva, and Eunice Paiva’s obligation to deal with the loss.
“The movie was really about how that light, that life was stolen when the father was taken from them, and the mother had to face the tragedy of dealing with a loss,” the filmmaker told journalist Christiane Amanpour, from CNN .
After her husband is taken by the military regime, Eunice Paiva has no choice but to move on and raise her children.
“How do you deal with a loss? Either you are subject to it, or you try to overcome it. And she really tried to overcome her, ”added Salles. “She embraced the possibility of life. It is an affirmative decision of life she has taken. ”
The concern of director and actress Fernanda Torres, who also participated in the interview, was to portray the tragedy experienced by the Paiva family in a dignified way.
“She [Eunice] never allowed to be portrayed as part of a melodrama. She refused to it, ”said Salles.
Fernanda Torres added, “I was trying to be faithful to her, not making her life a melodrama. This is something that Walter and I said, that we had to be faithful to her dignity. ”
“Eunice has five children. So she can’t sit down and cry, she can’t… she has no permission for it, ”said Torres. “The only way to go on, create those children and save their innocence, is simply to say ‘smile and move on’.”
Based on the book of the same name written by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the film tells the royal story of the writer’s family when his father, former deputy Rubens Paiva, was taken by the regime during the military dictatorship.
From this moment on, it is Eunice Paiva who assumes the protagonism while trying to discover her husband’s whereabouts and continues to take care of her children. Eunice has become one of the biggest symbols of fighting for family members of the missing during the military regime in Brazil, she graduated from a lawyer and made a career as an advocate for the rights of indigenous communities in the country.
“I’m still here” competes for Oscar 2025 in three categories: best movie, best international film and best actress, with Fernanda Torres. The award will be held on March 2.
“I’m still here”: Who was Rubens Paiva, character of Selton Mello
This content was originally published in Walter Salles to CNN: “I’m still here” is about the loss of a stolen life on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil

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