RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) 鈥� When Spanish actress Pen茅lope Cruz announced 鈥淚'm Still Here鈥� as the winner of the international feature at the millions of Brazilians roared at home and on the streets, where Carnival festivities have been ongoing since Saturday.
On Monday, as parties continued nationwide, many revelers took time to take a quick look at newspapers, peek on their social media and watch TV to rejoice even more for the country's first-ever Oscar victory. by the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for more than two decades.
鈥淚 promised I would watch 鈥� ' again tonight if it won, right after I come back from a Carnival street party, wearing my Wonder Woman costume,鈥� said Fernanda Rocha, 38, a pharmacist and tourist from Brasilia. 鈥淚 live in a city where the military almost helped former President throw a coup just two years ago. This movie is a win against that too.鈥�
Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes announced an expensive way to celebrate. His administration will buy the house where the film was shot in the upscale region of Urca, currently priced at 20 million Brazilian reais ($3.35 million) so it can be transformed into a cinema museum.
鈥淲e will make it public and open it for visitation, the place that brought Brazil's first Oscar in almost 100 years of the awards,鈥� Paes said in his social media channels.
Rio鈥檚 O Globo and O Estado de S. Paulo, two of Brazil's most popular newspapers, had almost identical headlines: 鈥淎t last, Brazil has an Oscar win.鈥� The South American country has had four other films nominated for Academy Awards: 鈥淜eeper of Promises鈥� (1963), 鈥淥 Quatrilho鈥� (1996), 鈥淔our Days in September鈥� (1998) and 鈥淐entral Station鈥� (1999).
Brazilian TV and social media repeatedly showed footage from the early hours of Monday, local time, with outbursts of joy across the nation and beyond, including at , a stadium where the glitzy Carnival parades take place every year, over the victory of the Walter Salles-directed film. And in Mexico, a TV broadcast team was seen dancing to celebrate the win.
The film's star, Fernanda Torres, was nominated for best actress. Her defeat to disappointed many Brazilians. 鈥淚鈥檓 Still Here鈥� was also a nominee for best picture, another first for a Brazilian film. Those losses did not dampen the celebration over the international film Academy Award.
鈥淭his was our first, we want to soon have two just like our friends and rivals from Argentina,鈥� said Paulo Almeida, 30-year-old theater actor. 鈥淚 am so very happy and hopeful that this will boost our movie industry for decades, just like it did for our neighbors.鈥�
Argentina has won the international feature at the Oscars with 鈥淭he Official Story鈥� (1986) and 鈥淭he Secret in Their Eyes鈥� (2010).
Brazilian media reported that Torres was invited to the 鈥淐hampions Parade鈥� of Rio's Carnival, which will take place Saturday with the top six performers at the samba school league. She has yet to confirm but hope among fans is high.
鈥淪he is the movie. We need to celebrate her as much as we can,鈥� said Vania Martins, a retired teacher. 鈥淏razilian cinema deserved this win long ago. There's movies that were even better than 鈥業鈥檓 Still Here' and didn't even get nominated. I hope that this win puts a spotlight on a country that does great, great things for art too.鈥�
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For more coverage of this year鈥檚 Academy Awards, visit:
Mauricio Savarese, The Associated Press
