I'm Still Here' with Golden Globe-Winner Fernanda Torres and Director Walter Salles

Summary

Podcast Summary: "I'm Still Here" with Fernanda Torres and Director Walter Salas

Podcast Information:

• Title: All Of It
• Host: Alison Stewart
• Episode Title: "I'm Still Here" with Golden Globe-Winner Fernanda Torres and Director Walter Salas
• Release Date: January 10, 2025
• Description: ALL OF IT is a show about culture and its consumers, aiming to engage thinkers, doers, makers, and creators about the what and why of their work.

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Introduction

In the January 10, 2025 episode of All Of It hosted by Alison Stewart, listeners are introduced to the poignant Brazilian film "I'm Still Here." The episode features an in-depth conversation with Fernanda Torres, the Golden Globe-winning actress portraying Eunice Paiva, and Walter Salas, the film's director. The discussion delves into the film's narrative, its historical context, character development, and the intricate filmmaking process.

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The Story Behind "I'm Still Here"

"I'm Still Here" is a true-story-based film that chronicles the experiences of the Paiva family during Brazil's tumultuous period under military dictatorship in the 1970s. The family resides in a picturesque beachside house: Eunice and Rubens Paiva, devoted parents to five children. Their peaceful life is shattered when Rubens is abducted by mysterious men demanding his deposition, a stark representation of the political oppression of the era.

Alison Stewart introduces the film's heart-wrenching narrative:

"Eunice and her husband Rubens are in love and they are devoted parents to five kids. But still, this is Brazil and the country is in the grips of a military dictatorship." (00:37)

The disappearance of Rubens sets Eunice on a relentless quest to uncover his fate while striving to protect her family amidst fear and uncertainty.

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Fernanda Torres on Portraying Eunice Paiva

Fernanda Torres provides a deep dive into her character, Eunice Paiva, highlighting the multifaceted nature of the role:

"She's someone who was raised to be the perfect housewife from the 50s. Not a silly one, an intellectual one, but the great woman behind a great [family]." (04:38)

Torres emphasizes Eunice's transformation from a traditional housewife to a resilient figure who becomes a lawyer and a staunch defender of human rights:

"She couldn't even bury the body. They disappear with the body with five children and a woman that, when she was facing tragedy, was when she started to find herself as the true Eunice." (04:38)

She further elaborates on Eunice's use of joy and a perpetual smile as forms of resistance against the oppressive regime:

"The smile is a political statement of Eunice... she always had that smile. So the smile and the joy as a weapon, I think she used it as a weapon." (13:31)

Torres discusses the emotional depth required for the role, particularly the balance between portraying vulnerability and unwavering strength:

"It's the first time, I think in my acting career that the thing was to do not act, but just to be. And illness in her restrain the fact that I had to restrain emotions that created this kind of a very realistic acting way of acting." (08:06)

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Walter Salas on Bringing the Paiva Family’s Story to Life

Director Walter Salas shares insights into the seven-year journey of creating "I'm Still Here," emphasizing the challenges posed by Brazil's double pandemic of COVID-19 and the rise of an extreme right-wing government:

"It took seven years also because we suffered a double pandemic in Brazil... and then the second thing is that we went through an extreme right wing government during that time." (06:56)

Salas discusses the meticulous process of honoring the family's memories and Marcelo Paiva's accounts from his book, ensuring authenticity and depth:

"We stayed very close to Marcelo throughout the whole process and, and also to interview every single person who was connected to this story in a way..." (05:50)

He highlights the importance of the beachside house as a character in itself, symbolizing both vitality and the intrusion of authoritarianism:

"The house was just like the house of my youth... it smelled like house. And that gave us... almost documentary..." (08:06)

Salas explains the narrative shift in the film, transitioning from a vibrant familial setting to the oppressive reality imposed by the dictatorship:

"The first image is of this woman in the water. And yet in the same frame, there's a military helicopter flying too low. And you could be in a car, but be interrupted..." (09:39)

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Filmmaking Techniques and Creative Choices

Use of Super 8 Film

Salas discusses the deliberate choice to utilize Super 8 film to evoke the era's authenticity:

"We immediately said, okay, let's embrace this as a form of relaying something fresh and very descriptive of that era... there's a certain beauty of the imperfection of those images." (17:13)

This technique not only captures the aesthetic of the 1970s but also conveys the intimate and political climate of the time.

Character Development and Ensemble Cast

Handling a large family with five children and a dog posed unique challenges. Salas elaborates on strategies to give each child their distinct presence:

"The screenplay does a really wonderful job in defining each one of those kids rapidly... we shot in chronological order, which helps tremendously with children." (18:41)

Torres adds her personal connection to the ensemble, likening her experience with the child actors to her own childhood:

"By the end of the movie, they were like my children. I had no doubts of who is who in this family." (20:11)

The director emphasizes building a genuine familial texture on set through extensive rehearsals and living in the house to foster authentic interactions:

"We created scenes that could have happened before the beginning of the film with the family. We occupied that house for weeks." (18:27)

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Themes of Resistance and Resilience

The film masterfully intertwines personal and political narratives, portraying how the family's resilience becomes a form of subtle resistance against the dictatorship. Torres reflects on Eunice's strategic politeness as a means to maintain control and dignity in the face of oppression:

"She's in charge in this house and you are invited here. You are not invaded. I'm allowing you to stay and I will treat you like people." (15:32)

Salas discusses the pivotal moments of fear and realization that propel Eunice towards active resistance:

"Once she realized the, the, the Kafkian reality she is in and, and that is a defining moment in her life... she decides that she's going to start to resist." (16:30)

The narrative arc emphasizes Eunice's transformation from a passive victim to an empowered individual, inspiring hope and showcasing the enduring strength of the human spirit.

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with final remarks on the film's release and the collaborative efforts of the cast and crew in bringing this significant story to the screen. "I'm Still Here" is slated for theatrical release on January 17th, promising to resonate with audiences through its authentic portrayal of a family's struggle and resilience amidst political turmoil.

Alison Stewart thanks Fernanda Torres and Walter Salas for their contributions:

"Thank you so much for making this film. We really appreciate it. It's a great film." (21:03)

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Release Details:

• Film Title: I'm Still Here
• Theatrical Release Date: January 17, 2025

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This comprehensive discussion on All Of It offers listeners an insightful look into the making of "I'm Still Here," shedding light on the intricate balance between historical accuracy, emotional depth, and artistic expression that defines the film. Through the voices of Fernanda Torres and Walter Salas, the episode honors the resilience of the Paiva family and the enduring impact of their story on Brazilian culture and beyond.

Transcript

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[WNYC Studios]

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. If you tuned into the Golden Globes on Sunday, you saw my next guest take home a statue Fernanda Torres won for her role in the Brazilian film I'm Still Here. As fellow nominees like Nicole Kidman and Kate Winslet applauded. If you had a chance to see the film, you know how well deserved that win is. I'm Still Here is based on the true tragic story of the paiva family. It's 1970s Brazil, and they live in a beautiful house right on the beach. Eunice and her husband Rubens are in love and they are devoted parents to five kids. But still, this is Brazil and the country is in the grips of a military dictatorship. And one morning, mysterious men turn up at the house and demand that Rubens come for for a deposition. The next night, they come for Eunice and her daughter Yenia. And though Eunice and her daughter are finally returned home, her husband remains missing. The film focuses on Eunice's fight to find out what has happened to her husband and her attempts to protect her family through terrifying unknowns. I'm Still Here is directed by Walter Salas, who grew up with the Paiva family. It's his first feature film since 2012. Now, some of you may have seen the film at Lincoln Center Festival or at MoMA, but it will be in theaters starting January 17th. I'm joined now by director Walter Salas. Hi, Walter.

[WNYC Studios]

Hi, Alison. I'm very happy to be here.

[Alison Stewart]

So happy to have you all as well. And newly minted Golden Globe winner, Fernanda Torres. Nice to meet you, Ferranda.

[Fernanda Torres]

Hi, Alison. Thank you for having us.

[Alison Stewart]

So, Walter, you were friends with the Paiva children growing up. How did you decide you wanted to tell their story?

[Fernanda Torres]

Yes.

[WNYC Studios]

You know, I was not only friends with them, but enamored by that family. At the heart of the film, there was so much life in that house that rented. You know, imagine five kids were their friends. Father and mother were with their friends as well. So it was a house full of life. There was a lot of political discussions roaming around that. That place. Music, Brazilian music that was censored at the time, that was playing constantly and it's that. That joy, you know, that possibility to resist with joy that was robbed when. When the father was taken for the position. So this story always. I always stayed with it inside. And then in 2015, the second youngest kid in the family wrote an extraordinary book called I'm Still Here on the memory of his family. And at the same time, he offered the possibility to see a reflection of the country during the decades of the military dictatorship. And this is when the film became a reality.

[Alison Stewart]

First of all, though, the music in the. In the film is. It's the party scenes. Fernanda, when did you first become aware of the Paiva family?

[Fernanda Torres]

I think in the first book that Marcelo wrote when he. He had an accident when he was like 20 years old and he lost the movements from neck down. And he wrote this amazing book about his recovery. And we all knew that he had lost his father during the dictatorship, but that was just the headline. We never knew. So the first contact I had with was through the first book of Marcelo. And for me, she was the widow of humans and the mother of Marcelo. I think I just discovered the unis in the second book, in this second book about their lives. And then through the film, that's when I think I had like, a deep grip of what an amazing woman she is.

[Alison Stewart]

I was gonna say, you said the wife, the mother of, but there was a lot more to her than just that. How would you describe her?

[Fernanda Torres]

It's someone who was raised to be the perfect housewife from the 50s. Not a silly one, an intellectual one, but the great woman behind a great. And what is interesting, her character is that she suffers a huge tragedy. I mean, her husband is killed, tortured, and she couldn't even bury the body. They disappear with the body with five children and a woman that, when she was facing tragedy, was when she started to found herself as the true Eunice. So is someone that said goodbye to utopia and reinvented herself in a very, very tough moment. And this. I think it's a good tale to everyone nowadays. I mean, to. To face reality with a smile and be brave. And then she became a lawyer and a great defender of the human rights. It's a hell of a woman.

[Alison Stewart]

Walter, what kind of conversations did you have with the Paiva family? What concerns did they have? What concerns did you have?

[WNYC Studios]

Yeah, it's a good question, because how do you make justice to your own memories, you know, from what you remember, but also to all the layers of the story that Marcelo had offered us in his book? You know, I think that the the way to do this was to stay very close to Marcelo throughout the whole process and, and also to interview every single person who was connected to this story in a way, and another sisters and the friends of the family. And this is what took us seven years, you know, to really reach a screenplay that. That somehow, you know, embraced the story in all its facets. It took a while. I never took as long, you know, to. To do a film to tell her the truth. But here there was, there was so much to make justice to.

[Alison Stewart]

For a film to take seven years. Wow. Well, first, how did you keep going?

[WNYC Studios]

Good question. In fact, it took seven years also because we suffered a double pandemic in Brazil. We have, you know, we. We went through the COVID pandemic without vaccines.

[Fernanda Torres]

And.

[WNYC Studios]

And then the second thing is that we went through an extreme right wing government during that time. So it would have been impossible to film the film, to shoot the film at that point, because we would never had the authorization to film in the streets of Brazil at that point. So this, this also stretched the length of the. Of the prep. But, you know, when I see it today, I think that we all gained a certain maturity and the possibility to actually really polish not only the screenplay, but every single character and, and add meaning to the. To the story in all its layers, you know.

[Alison Stewart]

I'm speaking with Fernando Torres and director Walter Salas about the new film. I am still here. So much takes place in this house, this beautiful house. Fernando, what does the house mean to Eunice?

[Fernanda Torres]

Not only to Eunice. You see, that house was just like the house of my youth. I. Oh, sorry. I could be one of those children, you see, I was. My mother looked a lot like Yonisi. So that was our youth. That was Rio de Janeiro at its best, even in a very tough moment. And also our set designer, he created a house that didn't look like a set. I always say that the kitchen smelled like garlic. He kept pushing like extinguishing cigarettes in the ashtrays. So the house smelled like house. And that gave us. Since it's almost documentary and Walter is a great documentarist. So it's the first time, I think in my acting career that the thing was to do not act, but just to be. And illness in her restrain the fact that I had to restrain emotions that created this kind of a very realistic acting way of acting. And that's Walter Salis. Dutch.

[Alison Stewart]

Walter, you begin the movie. The family's on the beach. They're having a great day. It's disrupted when the Older daughter is stopped. She's frisked by police. What do those opening scenes tell us about what life was like in Brazil during this period?

[WNYC Studios]

Yeah, you know, I always say that we could not be completely innocent at that time, even when we were 13, because the first image is of this woman in. In the water. And yet in the same frame, there's a military helicopter flying too low. And you could be in a car, but be interrupted, you know, be stopped by a roadblock. And. And where different forms of violence could take. Could enter into. Into play, you know, so this. This constant, I would say, interaction between the light of the tropics. But. But, you know, the danger of the regime at that point is one that really defines the whole first part of the film. There was always something that could be lost, you know, and I think we were aware of it, yet we tried to survive that moment by living, by making life, by embracing life as a form of resistance. This was it. But then there's a moment where it's not possible anymore in that house that you just referred to, the house that is truly a character of the film.

[Alison Stewart]

I wondered about the house, Walter, sort of the choreography of the kid, the disappearance, the kidnapping, because the kids are coming in and out. It's happening. Eunice has got a smile on her face during it. What was that choreography like? And you can jump into Fernando.

[WNYC Studios]

You know, the very beginning of the film is. Really corresponds to the memory I have of the house where there was a sense of immediacy, almost a tactile quality. You know, the people intermingled, so the camera is very mobile at the very beginning. You know, it's very fluid and very organic, and it just drifts from group to group of people. And as music is written, the whole thing, you know, it's. It's. It. There's a vitality that. That exists in that house that is almost like the reverse angle of the dictatorship itself, you know, and that movement, that possibility of being in the world is what is interrupted when the military police enters in that house. And from that moment on, what you have is subtraction, subtraction of light because the windows are shut. Subtraction of. Of movement because you can't move anymore from one. From one place to another. You just stand. And then there's something that is also a factor, this language itself, because in a dictatorship you cannot speak freely, you know, and the kids.

[Alison Stewart]

The kids don't know what's happening. So they're just coming and going. They're very free to move. Yes, everyone Else is frozen.

[WNYC Studios]

And then at a certain point, they. When they realize they also have to deal with it. And then the narrative becomes much more subjective because they have to look at each other's eyes to understand what's going on. And. And that movement that. That defines the beginning of the film is halted. And the camera also stands still. And it's almost like a body that ceases to move, you know, and that was very interesting to actually articulate a film. Think about the film in which the. The grammar of the 30 minutes, the initial 30 minutes, would be completely different from the grammar, from that, you know, the moment the father is taken on.

[Alison Stewart]

Fernando.

[Fernanda Torres]

But you mentioned. You have mentioned the smile. And this is a key thing in the film. I mean, the smile is a political statement of El Nisi. And from the beginning, we wanted to be faithful to her. She's a woman that never wanted to pose as a victim, because she thought that by posing as a victim, the dictatorship would have went so. And it's a very contradiction character, because she never told the children what happened to the father. And in a way, I think it was unbearable to tell them what happened. And on the other hand, I think she wanted to save the innocence or the believing life in their children. And what she does and it. This is real. It's in the film. It's when they were posing to a very famous newspaper or magazine, they asked them to look sad, and she says, no way you're going to smile. And when I was like researching on her interviews, she always had that smile. So the smile and the joy as a weapon, I think she used it as a weapon. And so the film tells a very sad story, but at the same time, you leave the cinema with joy, with a sense of hope, because this family has survived. Survived. So it's a very interesting woman. And I think we could have done a melodrama out of this movie, you see, and we fought a lot not to do it.

[Alison Stewart]

It's interesting because she does go through a bit of an arc at the beginning, because at first she's very polite to the men who comes to the house. Would you like to have lunch with us? Almost as like, if I'm. If I'm. Overly polite, maybe they'll go away somehow.

[Fernanda Torres]

I don't know if it's that. I think by saying, do you want to eat something? She's saying, I'm in charge in this house and you are invited here. You are not invaded. I'm allowing you to stay and I will treat you like people. So she's very intelligent.

[Alison Stewart]

When is she scared? When is she scared in the film?

[Fernanda Torres]

Oh, I think when she's taken to the prison with a 15 year old girl and, and she understands. She listened to the people being tortured in that prison and she asks for a lawyer and they say it's not necessary. And she almost, I think, loses the faith in, in any form of, of legal existence. That's when she's afraid, I think. Don't you think, Walter?

[WNYC Studios]

Yes. No, I, I agree. It's then once she realized the, the, the Kafkian reality she is in and, and that is a defining moment in her life. And when she comes back from the prison and she looks at herself in, in the mirror for a long time, this is when she really tries to make sense of everything that she went through. And this is when she decides that she's going to start to resist to that and offer a form of reinvention that could embrace the whole family. It just starts in that moment, immediately after the prison.

[Alison Stewart]

I want to ask you about some filmmaking choices. You use Super 8 in the film a lot.

[WNYC Studios]

You know, we, we made so much research about the period and there were so many Super 8 films that came and they revealed two things. First, the human geography of the time. Faces, bodies that were much leaner than they are now. And then behind those faces and those bodies there was in fact the regime you could see, the police cars you could see. So they were very revealing of the intimacy of the families at that time. But they were revealing of a political and social circumstances that those, those guys lived in. And this is when we immediately said, okay, let's embrace this as a form of relaying something fresh and very descriptive of that era. And, and actually the actors shot, you know, most of those Super 8 images. So there's a certain beauty of the imperfection of those images because it's, it's in the cracks, it's in the imperfection that some, some that somehow life erupts in cinema.

[Alison Stewart]

You know, the other question. You had five kids, five individual children and a dog. How did you want to give them each to have their own moment? And was it difficult with that many young actors?

[WNYC Studios]

You know, first, the screenplay does a really wonderful job in defining each one of those kids rapidly. You know, they have the one scene that truly takes care of understanding who they are. But, but we also did two or two, two other things. We, we shot in chronological order, which helps tremendously with children. And we also rehearsed what would be the prequel of the. We created scenes that you Know, that could have happened before the beginning of the film with the family. We occupied that house. We stayed in that house for weeks and. And we. We somehow created a texture in that family that truly existed before we started to shoot. And that, I think, we is a result of what I had done in Central Station, a film I shot with Fernanda's mother. Yeah, exactly 25 years ago, in which I had on one hand, a young kid who had never acted, and the most extraordinary actress in Brazilian cinema, Fernanda's mother. And to blend that, we also make, you know, did spend time together and created texture between the characters. And we did the exact same thing here.

[Alison Stewart]

Fernanda, your mother makes.

[Fernanda Torres]

I remember in the beginning, I had difficult. Even by remembering the names of the kids, was too many kids, too many nicknames. And by the end of the movie, they were like my children. I had no doubts of who is who in this family. And with each one of them, the two kids brought us like freedom. I mean, they were so spontaneous, they were just playing. And the other actresses, they reminded me so much. I saw myself in them. I mean, we're doing a film with Walter Salis, an amazing script, an amazing story for the first time. And so I created really a very maternal feeling to each one of them.

[Alison Stewart]

I don't want to give anything away, but your mother is in the film as well. What was it like to have her be a part of the film?

[Fernanda Torres]

I mean, me and my mother, we are like the Fernandez. We're like entity in Brazil. We exist separately, but there is also the Fernandez entity. And we are in the movie. And her presence, I think, together with the fact that Eunice Paiva raised Marcelo Rubens Paiva, that one day would write her story. It means that's what I find it so meaningful that art has endured in me and my mother, in Marcelo and Eunice, that besides the dictatorship, the right, right. Right wing government, the economical crisis, we managed to exist and to produce wonderful director like Walter Salis, who once in a while saves Brazilian cinema.

[Alison Stewart]

The name of the film is I'm Still Here. It will be in theaters January 17th. I've been speaking with actor Fernanda Torres and director Walter Salis. Thank you so much for making this film. We really appreciate it. It's a great film.

[Fernanda Torres]

Thank you very much for having me.

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[Alison Stewart]

Here's.

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