It’s been a long time since Brazilian cinema experienced a year as golden as 2025. Soon after, the golden glow of the Golden Globe won by Fernanda Torres – the first for a Brazilian actress – began to illuminate the path ahead for domestic productions.
Awards season continued with praise for the actress and the film she starred in, Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here.” Critical and box office successes – the film became the tenth most popular film in the country – were converted into awards. Brazil’s first Oscar, in the international cinema category, reaffirmed that “life is beautiful”, copying Torres’ phrase which had gone viral at the time.
The way was clear after the implosion of the “Emilia Pérez” campaign. The film was favorite in the race for the statuette, but was plunged into controversy and attacked by Brazilians on the Internet. “I’m Still Here” goes beyond the French musical, takes off and Torres becomes a diva in the American press and on social networks at the Hollywood Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
However, she was unable to do justice to her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, as many wanted. Torres was also deprived of the Oscar for best actress, which ended up in the hands of a young Mikey Madison, in a ceremony that lovingly covered her film “Anora.” Even then-favorite Demi Moore was sidelined, and her loss proved that her film, “The Substance,” accurately captured ageism in Hollywood.
Throughout awards season, Brazil has been filled with World Cup atmosphere. During Carnival, the country took to the streets in Torres masks and gathered around the television to see Walter Salles take the stage at the Dolby Theater and win the long-awaited National Cinema Oscar.
Confetti and green and yellow streamers colored the sky throughout the first half – it wasn’t just “I’m still here” that made Brazilians proud, after all. Before the Oscars, “The Last Blue”, by Gabriel Mascaro, had already won the Silver Bear in Berlin and, then, “The Secret Agent”, by Kleber Mendonça Filho, had a historic campaign at the Cannes Film Festival.
The political thriller won two trophies on the French Riviera – best actor for Wagner Moura and directing for Kleber Mendonça Filho – paving the way for what promises to be a new season of strong emotions for Brazil in Hollywood.
The film is already shortlisted for the International Film Academy Award, and given the Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture, Drama, Foreign Language Film and Actor in a Drama, it’s likely it will repeat the path of “I’m Still Here” and reach more than one Oscar category.
Brazilian cinema does not only live on awards, which have shown more vigor and consistency than the Hollywood harvest in recent months. Here, “Homem com H”, “Manas”, “West Again”, “The Son of a Thousand Men”, “Apocalypse in the Tropics” and “The Hanged Men” were other titles praised to attest to the quality of local production.
The domestic box office, however, remains low, even though it is a universal problem. Notable exceptions were “Sinners,” which triumphed with an original story while swimming against the tide of financially secure sequels, and “Zootopia 2,” already at the end of the year.
The one who missed the opportunity to make money with an original feature film was Netflix, owner of one of the biggest phenomena of the year, the animated “Guerreiras do K-Pop”, which ended up going straight to streaming. Its success caused a rare movement these days, and the film was then shown in theaters.
However, most films still suffer from poor box office sales. It’s a scenario that could worsen in the short term, following the announcement that Netflix is expected to buy Warner Bros. and HBO Max, thus officially entering the traditional cinema market.
The concern among producers and other industry professionals is linked to Netflix’s weak commitment to cinema culture: the platform does not tend to prioritize theatrical release and maintains that content must reach where the audience is.
The news sums up a turbulent year for American cinema, which also had to deal with interference and attacks from President Donald Trump. At the start of 2025, the Republican threatened to tax films and series that were not recorded on American soil, in an awkward response to the flight of productions from the United States.
Faced with the rise in filming costs in the country – particularly in Los Angeles, a mecca for cinema – small and large studios are turning abroad to install their film sets. Trump used protectionism as his banner, but the move backfired and industry insiders said the idea would only make the situation worse. So far, the promise has not left the president’s personal social network, Truth Social.
The Republican attack on the cultural sector, however, has had concrete effects in Hollywood. The studios have avoided burning their film with Trump, because they depend on the government in international negotiations regarding the regulation of streaming and also for the approval of mergers, such as that of Paramount and Skydance, finalized in August. The union between the two companies took place with the blessing of the president.
On the other hand, Paramount has silenced productions critical of the American president. Even films from other studios have preferred to avoid controversial topics in their plots to appeal to more conservative audiences, as was the case with “Wicked: Part 2,” “Fantastic Four: First Steps” and “Elio,” a Pixar animation that was even accused of suppressing the queer characteristics of its protagonist.
The exceptions were “One Battle After Another,” “Eddington” and “Bugonia,” films that speak to the social crisis that deepens polarization in the United States. If it was camouflaged in Hollywood, in fact, the climate of political unease dominated the Cannes Film Festival, with productions about the war in Gaza and growing authoritarianism in the world, such as “It Was Just an Accident”, crowned with the Palme d’Or. Artists such as Robert De Niro and Wes Anderson have also protested against Trump.
Despite the tension that reigned, the team of “The Secret Agent” paraded on Avenue de la Croisette to the sound of the Pernambuco frevo. If the film’s Oscar nominations come to fruition in January, it’s likely that Brazil will start the year with a new celebration.
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