When Oscar nominations 2025 was announced on Thursday, the prize guard expected to see the titles “Emilia Pérez”, “Conclave” and “Wicked” in the lineup. But the gripping, humane Brazilian drama “I’m still here” was a surprise on the list of best pictures.
Pundits had expected the film to appear in the categories Best International Film and Potentially Best Female Lead (Fernanda Torres), which both did, but the academy members – 9,905 voters on the last bill – also supported the film in all branches to get a sought after Nomination for best film.
“The academy members have always been drawn to high quality work,” Michael Barker, co -chairman of the film’s distributor Sony Pictures Classics, told Thewrap. “Of course we knew that this movie was of high quality and we knew that if we got enough academy members to see it, we would have a shot.”
He added, “That strategy began a long time ago, and (with president Tom Bernard) and I have always claimed that if the movie is really good and if you get started early enough you can get in there.”
And Barker should know. “I’m still here” marks Sony Pictures Classics 10th best movie nomination in its story, for movies so quirky and loved as “capote”, “amour”, “whiplash”, “call me by your name” and “crouching tiger “. , Hidden dragon. ”
But Barker is also honest about the reality of a price campaign. “Many amazing movies are not made in it,” he said. “We’ve seen it with some amazing pictures this year. All we can do is get the most academy members to watch the movie. They will all see all” A “movies, the ones who have the most star power and get the most attention. But there is So many other films that simply do not reach because enough academy members have not seen them. “
This is where the organization comes in. SPC acquired “I’m still here” in May last year, before the film was completely finished post -production. “When we got on board, we started working on a strategy to get Academy members to watch the movie,” Barker explained. “We did it with ‘Amour’, we did it with ‘Call me by your name’. It makes a difference when you can get a long track for your movie.”
“I’m still here” focuses on Eunice Paivas (Torres, in a performance of Gena Rowlands caliber) in reality to find justice for the government-related disappearance of her husband. It premiered for brilliant reviews at the Venice Film Festival in September, and later played at festivals in Toronto, New York and London.
Barker, who participates in many of the shows and personal questions and answers for his company’s films, noticed a mood among the audience watching the film.
“Immediate standing ovations at each show, as at all festivals and AFI and so on,” he said. “And when you get that kind of immediate reaction you know you have something. It was so strong and so emotional. And then we heard from people who had shown the film on the Academy display platform, and they told us about how the ways the ways The movie so they moved on. ”
Barker continued, “so we knew it worked both on the big screen and the smaller screen, but it always works better on the big screen. And so we planned (in-theatre views) from the beginning, held many shows and hoped that Something like this can happen just around the release time. “
And in fact, “I’m still here” opened at a handful of cinemas on January 17, after qualifying for a short while to the Oscars gala last year. Now it has the extra prestige to be nominated for best movie.
“We are convinced that the wider public will embrace this movie,” Barker said. “This movie is as good as any English -speaking political thriller with something to say. And so it is obvious that these nominations will help get the film to an ordinary audience. And when a foreign -language movie is nominated for best film, sheep That movie suddenly an audience it may not have before. ”
“That’s why we always had the dream of getting that nomination,” he added. “The goal here is to get as many people as possible to see this masterpiece and to have this nomination will help to realize it.”
Barker also pointed out that the film’s exposure was favored by the Golden Globe win for Torres, which occurred a few days before the Oscar vote began. “Fernanda’s spectacular speech at the Golden Globes, for her incredible, great performance, was a great help to get the film’s attention,” Barker said. “Because we knew that when people saw it, they would be for it.”
Sony Pictures Classics also released “Central Station”, the 1998 film that received an Oscar nomination for the protagonist Fernanda Montenegro, Torre’s mother. “They are the second mother and daughter who were both nominated for Oscar for best female lead, after Judy Garland and Liza Minnelli,” Barker noted (and he is right, even though he indicated that Other mother-daughter-pairs has been nominated for the supporting role Oscar).
“The Torres family, Fernanda’s father too, they are like Brazil’s Barrymores,” he said. “It’s just amazing to see that it is inherited from generation to generation. Fernanda Montenegro, who is well over 90 years old, she still performs at the theater in Brazil, as we say. And she is with (‘I’m Still Here ‘) too. “
Barker also acknowledged the main creative power behind the film and its Oscar glory. “It would be Director Walter Salles“, he said.” We released his “Central Station” 26 years ago and it is a fantastic thing to work with this champion filmmaker. His performance as a director has been noticed by many and he has anchored this entire project from the beginning. “
