“I’m Nonetheless Right here” star Fernanda Torres received her first Golden Globe, and cemented her place within the awards race, after scoring the statue for finest actress in a movement image, drama.

Torres, 59, appeared shocked to listen to her named referred to as and saved her speech brief. She was nominated towards Pamela Anderson (“The Final Showgirl”), Angelina Jolie (“Maria”), Nicole Kidman (“Babygirl”), Tilda Swinton (“The Room Subsequent Door”) and Kate Winslet (“Lee”) and was not anticipated to prevail towards all these A-listers and icons. Within the political drama, Torres performs Eunice Paiva, a grieving mom who’s dealing with the compelled disappearance of her husband, former leftist politician Rubens Paiva, throughout throughout Brazil’s navy dictatorship.

“My god, I didn’t put together something as a result of I used to be late already,” Torres admitted from the stage on the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. “And that is such a tremendous 12 months for feminine performances. There are such a lot of actresses right here who I love a lot.”

She turns into the primary Brazilian actress to win the award for finest actress in a movement image, drama. Her victory appeared to be particularly significant as a result of her mom, Fernanda Montenegro, was beforehand nominated in the identical class in 1999 for “Central Station,” which additionally earned her an Oscar nod. Montenegro, now 95, seems in “I’m Nonetheless Right here” because the older model of Eunice.

“She was right here 25 years in the past, and that is proof that artwork can endure by life, even in troublesome moments like this,” Torres mentioned of her win. She added that “I’m Nonetheless Right here” is a movie “that may helps us to suppose easy methods to survive in powerful occasions.”

“I’m Nonetheless Right here” premiered on the Venice Movie Competition, the place it received one of the best screenplay award. Since then, it’s been named as one of many high 5 worldwide movies by the Nationwide Board of Evaluation and obtained one other Globe nomination for finest overseas language movie. “I’m Nonetheless Right here” was additionally chosen as Brazil’s Oscar entry for finest worldwide function movie.

Torres didn’t specify on stage what she meant by “powerful occasions.” Nevertheless, “I’m Nonetheless Right here’s” filmmakers have mentioned that the film’s story resonates in a different way after the Jan. 6 riot within the U.S. and the 2023 riots in Brazil the place supporters of right-wing politician Jair Bolsonaro stormed Brazilian authorities buildings over his false claims of election fraud.

“We began this challenge considering that we have been retelling a narrative from the previous, however we got here to understand that it was additionally a mirrored image on our current,” director Walter Salles instructed Selection earlier than the movie’s theatrical launch. “Now we have to remind ourselves of what occurred. Cinema generally is a highly effective instrument to push towards these forces — to assist us keep away from oblivion. A rustic with out reminiscence is a rustic with out a future.”