I’m Still Here, the Brazilian film that won the Oscar for Best International Feature, portrays the Paiva family, a middle-class family living through the repression of the dictatorship that marked Brazil.
The Secret Agent, a Brazilian film and the most-awarded non-English-language film of 2025, features Wagner Moura in multiple roles, constantly shifting identities as he tries to evade an ideological hunt that runs over anyone who gets in its way. Bodies are left on the streets to rot, while people cling to myths and urban legends like the Perna Cabeluda (The Hairy Leg) to make sense of the disappearances and deaths surrounding Recife. It is also set during the dictatorship that marked Brazil.
With their great films, Walter Salles and Kleber Mendonça Filho have done everything they can to remind Brazilians: DO NOT FORGET. Democracy is always hanging by a thread.
And here we are in 2026, with a presidential election approaching. Bolsonaro’s son, the son of a former president who defended the dictatorship and torture and was arrested for organizing an attempted coup, is in a tight race that could potentially put him in power.
Brazil, the country of Carnival, cinema, joyful and passionate people, political engagement, and the Amazon, could once again face terrifying times if Brazilians forget what these films have tried so desperately to remind us of.
Luca Guadagnino’s ‘ARTIFICIAL’ debuts with 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Starring Andrew Garfield, Yura Borisov, Monica Barbaro, Cooper Koch, Cooper Hoffman, Billie Lourd, Zosia Mamet, Mark Rylance, and Ike Barinholtz.
Luca Guadagnino’s ‘ARTIFICIAL’ debuts with 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Starring Andrew Garfield, Yura Borisov, Monica Barbaro, Cooper Koch, Cooper Hoffman, Billie Lourd, Zosia Mamet, Mark Rylance, and Ike Barinholtz.
Mikey Madison says films like “The Social Reckoning” and “Artificial” have the power to expose the bad practices of tech companies “to such big audiences.”