Hello and welcome to Little Gold Men,

Vanity Fair's podcast for film, TV, and awards lovers.

I'm David Canfield.

I'm still here, the Brazilian biopic directed by Walter Salas,

has emerged as one of this

award season's most beloved standouts.

The film stars Fernanda Torres as legendary activist and human rights lawyer Eunice Paiva.

When her husband is kidnapped and murdered by the military dictatorship of 1960s Brazil,

Eunice becomes a single mother of five children who makes it her life's mission to seek justice for her husband.

I first saw I'm still here in Toronto way back in September, and was raving about it to anyone who would listen.

I'm very glad to report it has since gone on to incredible award success, achieving the rare feat of receiving both Best International Film and Best Picture Oscar nominations,

in addition to a Best Actress nod for Torres.

It's not the first time a Walter Salas film has received international acclaim either.

His 1998 Film Central Station was also nominated for Best International Feature and for Best Actress.

In that case, for Fernando Montenegro,

who was Torres' mother and who also appears,

and I'm still here.

Yes, incredible connections in this movie.

Today, Salas joins me to chat about the incredible fan base

that has developed for the movie locally and around the world,

his own connection to the story that dates back to his childhood,

and his decades-long collaboration with Fernando Torres.

...