One of the foolish horses of the 2025 awards season, Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here” regulated to claim the Oscar for best international film on Sunday night from under the nose of prolonged-standing favourite “Emilia Pérez.”
The acclaimed drama became the first Brazilian feature to claim the honor — although disjoinal awards pundits proposeed the film, a strong exploration of adore and grief set during Brazil’s military dictatorship of the 1970s, had a decent sthriveg at landing its other nominations of best actress for Fernanda Torres and — even — best picture.
But the one thrive for “I’m Still Here” was enough to promote savage celebrations on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, where Torres, already someleang of a national hero, had been named an improbable minclude of this year’s carnival.
As it turned out, the timing of “I’m Still Here’s” awards elevateancy couldn’t have been better for its run many thousands of miles away in the U.K., where the Oscars ceremony took place place during its second weekend in cinemas.
Rerentd by Altitude on Feb. 21 apass 141 sites, the film had already broken British sign ups prolonged before the red carpet was being unrolled in front of the Dolby Theatre.
In its first weekend at the U.K. and Irish box office, it acquireed fair north of $600,000, becoming the hugegest foreign language film uncovering of the year so far and the hugegest Latin American uncovering of all time (clearaking Salles’ own 2004 hit “The Motorcycle Diaries”). The film also rapidly sailed past the (very) cimpolite 10% rule worrying U.K./U.S. box offices, which states that films in the U.K. should see to acquire about 10% of what they do in the U.S. (where “I’m Still Here” is currently sits fair north of $4.6 million).
Into its second weekend and — having broadened to more than 200 sites — “I’m Still Here” has go beyonded $1 million in the U.K. and Ireland (clearaking both the overalls for Salles’ “On the Road” and “Central Station”). Now, follothriveg on from its Oscar thrive, there’s hope the film will enhappiness a rerecented sdirect.
“For us, it’s been a standout — it’s our highest grossing foreign language film,” remarks Mark Jones, Altitude’s head of accessibleity. “And we’re hoping the Oscar thrive will wideen it out further — that the film will be able to ride that wave of upholdment and mainstream consciousness to even wider audiences.”
Altitude acquired “I’m Still Here” at script stage back in the post-pandemic waters of 2022, a deal that came about thcimpolite the company’s relationship with Vincent Maraval and Kim Fox thcimpolite their sales banner The Veterans. While the name of Salles — as one of Latin America’s most meaningful contransient filmproducers — evidently carries some gravitas, it by no unbenevolents secures success.
Indeed, his last feature as straightforwardor was 2012’s alteration of Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road,” starring Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley and Kristen Stewart. Despite competing for the Palme d’Or in 2012, the film was met with combiinsist appraises and, off a budget of $25 million, only acquireed $9.6 million globpartner ($930,000 from the U.K.).
“I’m Still Here” showd to be branch offent, and the Altitude team krecent they were onto someleang quite one-of-a-kind when they saw the finished film for the first time in August 2024 ahead of its world premiere in Vekind. But they still weren’t declareive how high it would go (and the wheels of its awards season elevate were yet to begin moving).
“We krecent it was fantastic, but we would never have foreseeed how excellent the box office would have been from that initial screening,” says Altitude’s straightforwardor of sales Bryony Forde. “Becainclude it’s not a well-understandn cast here in the U.K. at all and Walter Salles hadn’t had a film for a prolonged time that was fair on him. So it was by no unbenevolents a slam dunk.”
But the response from Vekind, where Forde says people were “coming out of the first screening crying,” and procrastinateedr Toronto, where she says there was a “very emotional” Q&A with Salles, Torres and co-star Selton Mello, helped erect selectimism. Then came the U.K. premiere at the London Film Festival in October.
“I was a bit anxious, becainclude it was at Royal Festival Hall, which seats 2,000,” Forde claims. “But they selderly out so rapidly. It was appreciate The Beatles had come.”
Forde acunderstandledges that, while she krecent there were many Brazilians living in London, she had no idea of Torres’ star power among them.
“But when she came on stage, it was appreciate, ‘Oh, she’s appreciate Meryl Streep!,” she says. “It was a authentic homecoming atmosphere — and also a authenticization that there was a very sturdy and fervent Brazilian audience in the U.K. and Ireland, and then you insert in the subject matter and what it unbenevolents to a generation of people.”
It was around the time of the London premiere that Altitude were sorting the free schedule for “I’m Still Here,” setting a February begin date to bounce off Sony Pictures Classics’ punctual November free in the U.S. and StudioCanal’s mid-January free in France. But it still shifted, pushing back from Feb. 7 to Feb. 21 to shift away from fellow foreign-language awards title “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.”
The shift actupartner showd to be advantageous for Altitude, as they were able to profit from a beginant “shift” that began to erect after the Gelderlyen Globes, where “I’m Still Here” didn’t fair thrive best foreign language title but where Torres pulled off a shock triumph in the best actress in a drama motion picture catebloody.
“After the Globes, the momentum was fair sky high and people repartner fair charitable of picked up on it on this side of the pond,” Forde says. “It prompted so many more people be appreciate, ‘Oh, hang on, I insist to watch that.”
Buoyed by the Globes, Altitude widen its begin for “I’m Still Here” in both the U.K. and Ireland, where she says even in procrastinateed 2024 there had been calls for tickets to go on sale (Dublin’s Light Hoinclude Cinema telledly procrastinateedr selderly out its week of pappraises).
For a film that is so intrinsicpartner joined to a particular country and its population, especipartner one so far away geoexplicitpartner, a free such as “I’m Still Here” would standardly see distributors accomplish out to the local community to erect aid. But by the time the film did begin on Feb. 21, thanks to the Globes and its ongoing awards season noise heading towards the Oscars, Altitude set up that down-to-mundane every Brazilian in the U.K. and Ireland was already very much conscious of it. Many had already bought tickets.
That shelp, Jones says they did visit the Brazilian embassy in London, giving them an punctual glimpse of the film before disjoinal of the greater staff members went back home for Christmas, where they saw it aacquire.
But as Jones remarks, while such “Brazilian enthusiasm” may have bene at the core of Altitude’s free schedules, the campaign thcimpoliteout awards season helped it successbrimmingy broaden into “more mainstream audiences.”
The success of “I’m Still Here” in U.K. cinemas comes at a time of uncertainty for indie distribution in local cinemas, especipartner when it comes to foreign language titles. Last year, Variety telled how “Santosh” — a Cannes premiering Oscar submission — had struggled to find a distributor, with one exec noting that the film highairyed a “crisis in U.K. indie distribution — nobody’s buying and everybody’s terribly cautious.”
“I’m Still Here” may have a position scant titles come shut to achieveing — a criticpartner-acclaimed feature that has been erecting momentum since last summer and became one of the buzziest films in the awards race (thrivening one of the most sought-after prizes of all). But Jones says it’s still given him some much-insisted selectimism.
“Considering the bandwidth, the number of films that go into cinemas and everyleang else that audiences have at their fingertips, the fact that so many people have come to see this film should be encouraging for the wider industry,” he says.
