World
Movie Review: A family is torn apart under Brazil’s dictatorship in ‘I’m Still Here’
It’s easy to fall in love with the Paiva family. Filmmaker Walter Salles makes sure of that in “I’m Still Here.”
He drops the audience into the warm everyday of the beautiful home of Eunice (Fernanda Torres) and Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), in 1970s Rio de Janeiro, where their five kids run freely between the beach and their living room. Life is calmly chaotic, full of affection, gentle familial teasing and various life stages (one is about to lose a tooth, another about to go to university). Someone always seems to have wet hair, be covered in sand, or bringing in a mangy stray, as their youngest, Marcelo, does in the film’s lovely opening. Even if their life is technically worlds away from any one person in the audience, it feels familiar and close.
Anyone coming to “I’m Still Here” will surely know that this domestic tranquility does not and cannot hold. It was about seven years into Brazil’s military dictatorship, which would last until 1985. And while the film suggests that there was a semblance of normalcy in their day to day, there are also ominous signs of change and oppression — reports of ambassadors being kidnapped on the news, and tense “random” traffic stops that their eldest daughter endures one night. Some left-leaning citizens are making plans to leave, but the Paiva family is not in a terrible rush. They’re even making plans to build a new home.
So when three men in civilian clothes enter their home one afternoon and tell Rubens, a former left-leaning congressman, that he needs to come in for questioning, it happens with little incident. Everyone is on guard — they’re not naive — but you sense that Eunice believes he will come back that night. Maybe even the next day. Rubens is calm changing into a collared shirt and tie and lying to his daughter that he is going into the office, even though it’s a holiday. But he also savors this moment with her, perhaps because he knows he’s likely to not return.
The film is based on a memoir written by Paiva’s son, Marcelo, but you don’t need to know that to know that it is first and foremost a memory piece. It is deeply personal and imbued with the kind of tenderness that is extremely difficult to see or appreciate in the moment. And although it’s certainly idealized and wistful, we accept any assumed white lies because we all wish that for ourselves: to truly recognize what we have before it’s gone.
This story is not about the abduction, however, or what may have happened to Rubens after that day. It’s about how Eunice continues on, through uncertainty, absence and, ultimately, the loss of hope. Salles chooses to tell this story in a rather straightforward manner, which works well, allowing the compelling narrative and the talented actors to carry the audience through.
At the heart of it is Torres, who has already won a Golden Globe for her performance and whose portrayal of Eunice is a true marvel. Mothers and wives often get the short shrift in movies like this, about Big Important Topics decided on by men, but Torres instills Eunice with a deep emotional and practical intelligence that’s beautifully feminine, whether she’s dealing with a misogynist banker, a dead dog in the street or the thugs surveilling her home. She’s fascinating and resilient in a way that so many women are in times of historical strife but rarely celebrated for.
In one particularly poignant scene, she and the kids are being photographed by a journalist hoping to tell their story. They smile together, as they did earlier in the film when Rubens was there. Now he’s not, and the reporters are confused. They ask Eunice to try a more serious expression. She laughs, “They want us to look sad,” and instructs her kids to keep smiling. It’s a perfect encapsulation of the complex spirit of the movie. Political disappearances don’t begin and end with the victim, or the toppling of a regime — they are generational traumas that live on in the survivors and alter everything in their wake.
“I’m Still Here,” a Sony Pictures Classics release in limited release Friday (expanding on Jan. 24), is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “smoking, drug use, brief nudity, some strong language, thematic content.” Running time: 135 minutes. Three stars out of four.
By Euronews with AFP
Published on
Two whales were killed off the coast of Iceland overnight Sunday, two days after commercial hunting resumed, local media and animal rights activists reported Monday.
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The kill ends a two-year pause and marks the first catches since 2023.
Icelandic public broadcaster RUV reported that two fin whales were killed. The fin whale is the second largest animal on Earth after the blue whale.
Before the vessels set off on Friday, a protester had attached himself to one of the masts in the port of Reykjavik, but climbed down and was escorted away by police.
Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only three countries that still openly permit whaling, despite international condemnation from the public and animal welfare organisations.
Iceland cancelled its whale hunt over the past two years, partly because economic problems had cut demand and the industry was not deemed profitable enough.
“The first fin whale deaths in Iceland’s hunt this year are devastating,” said Joanna Swabe, European senior public affairs director for animal rights group Humane World for Animals.
“Iceland has killed more than 1,000 fin whales in the past two decades — not only the second largest animal on the planet but also a species classified as globally vulnerable to extinction,” Swabe said in a statement.
Iceland’s government has said it is planning to introduce a bill aimed at banning whaling this autumn.
The International Whaling Commission banned the commercial killing of whales in 1986 amid alarm at the declining stock of the marine mammals.
Iceland’s Marine and Freshwater Research Institute has recommended that no more than 150 fin whales are caught in the 2026 season.
That represents a 28-percent drop on the annual quota it recommended for the period 2018–2025, it said.
The institute has set an annual catch of 168 animals for the minke whale hunt this year, a 23-percent drop on 2018-2025.
Paramount+ has commissioned a docuseries about shamed “X Factor” judge Tulsa from Dorothy Street Pictures, the producers behind Victoria Beckham doc “Victoria” and Pamela Anderson doc “Pamela: A Love Story.”
Tentatively titled “Tulisa: The Reckoning,” the unscripted series will follow the former pop star and talent show judge as she reflects on her journey, from her humble beginnings to soaring success as the frontwoman for the band N-Dubz, her pivot to “X Factor” judge and the scandal that saw her career come crashing down.
In 2013 an undercover U.K. tabloid journalist nicknamed the “Fake Sheikh” tricked the singer into “setting up a cocaine deal” which saw her arrested and charged. The trial collapsed after the journalist was found to have tampered with evidence (he was later convicted of perverting the course of justice).
Tulisa later revealed she had been entrapped by the journalist, who claimed he could bag her a role in a movie worth £3.5 million.
Although she was never convicted, Tulisa lost endorsements and jobs, including the “X Factor” gig and effectively disappeared from public life.
As well as telling her story, the three-part docuseries will follow the singer’s campaign for media regulation.
“This isn’t just a story of survival, it’s a reckoning,” reads the synopsis for the docuseries. “After years of reflection, Tulisa is ready to confront and change the system that once brought her down.”
Tulisa says of the project: “For years, so much has been said about me, but not always by me. This series is about taking back control of my story and speaking openly about everything I’ve been through, not just for myself, but for anyone who’s had similar experiences in the media spotlight.”
“Tulisa: The Reckoning” (working title) is set to land on Paramount+ in 2026.
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JOHANNESBURG — In what’s being hailed as a major win for the Trump administration against Chinese domination of the rare earth minerals market, the U.S. has supported an American company, Virtus Minerals, in developing two major mines producing cobalt and copper in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
This is claimed to be the first U.S. rare earth minerals acquisition in the African nation since President Donald Trump announced the Washington Accord last December.
Historically, China has been the heavy lifter of these metals. The Strategic Studies Institute reported that 80% of the world’s cobalt is produced in the DRC — and 80% of that is controlled by China. Cobalt, used in a wide range of applications, from electric cars and mobile phones to military jets, is on the U.S. government’s list of critical minerals. Copper, also on the list, has traditional uses such as piping for plumbing, but is also needed in electronics and the automotive industry.
President Donald Trump attends a signing ceremony with Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in Washington on Dec. 4, 2025. (Evan Vucci/AP)
During December’s signing at the White House, Trump made clear the administration’s fight to curb Chinese domination of minerals and help American mining companies make a major impact in the DRC. “A great day for Africa, a great day for the world,” Trump said. The accord also aims to bring an end to fighting between the DRC and Rwandan-backed forces, although the Rwandan-supported M23 rebel group have continued their hostile infiltration in the Eastern DRC.
American mining company Virtus is, with U.S. support, claiming to be “the first U.S.-owned operator back in the DRC in more than a decade”, with its investment in Chemaf, a local cobalt and copper producer with two mining operations, one, Étoile, in Lubumbashi and Mutoshi, in Kolwezi. Together it’s planned the mines will produce a combined 75,000 tonnes of copper, and 20,000 tonnes of cobalt a year. The processing plants are currently under development and will come online next year.
Virtus Minerals CEO and Chamaf Chairman. Phillip Braun, the Chargé d’Affaires U.S. Embassy Kinshasa Ian J. McCary, and Chemaf Managing Director Sooryanarayanan Prabhakaran cutting the ribbon of the new mine. (Virtus Minerals / Chemaf)
The minerals will ultimately be exported to the west through the Lobito Corridor to a port in Angola. Lobito is the rail route the U.S. has backed with a $5 billion investment commitment, with, according to a Virtus statement, “the aim of obtaining a secure, auditable copper and cobalt supply chain for the U.S. and its allies.”
THE WEST STILL DOESN’T GRASP THE DANGER OF CHINA’S RARE EARTH ENDGAME
Frans Cronje, president of the Washington-based Yorktown Foundation for Freedom, says the Virtus projects are significant because they show the administration is seriously trying to change the balance in a minerals battle with China.
He told Fox News Digital, “This development signals a more assertive United States effort to compete with China for access to Africa’s critical mineral base, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where cobalt and copper are strategically vital to global energy and defense supply chains.”
The U.S. and DRC flags fly outside Chemaf’s site in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Virtus Minerals / Chemaf)
Cronje added, “China has built deep structural dominance across much of Africa’s resource sector over the past two decades, but U.S.-backed initiatives such as this suggest a shift towards more direct engagement, rather than relying on Chinese-controlled supply routes. This matters because Africa’s vast resource endowment, combined with its geostrategic position along key Atlantic and Indian Ocean corridors, makes it central to future global economic and security competition.”
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “President Trump and Secretary Rubio remain firmly committed to supporting U.S. companies that seek to do business in the DRC.”
AFRICAN WAR-TORN NATION INVOKES TRUMP ‘GOLDEN AGE’ FOR MINERALS DEAL IN EXCHANGE FOR BOOTING VIOLENT REBELS
Chemaf’s site in Kolwezi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (Virtus Minerals / Chemaf)
“The United States government fully supports the efforts of Virtus Minerals,” the spokesperson continued. “This acquisition serves as an initial flagship U.S. investment in the DRC, and sends a clear signal that the U.S. private sector interest is real and will catalyze further investment in alignment with the U.S.-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement, which positions the DRC to play an integral role in the Trump Administration’s global efforts to secure critical mineral supply chains.”
The spokesperson added that “increased U.S. investment will create quality jobs for American and Congolese workers, foster skills development and support local communities that have long been exploited by the opaque systems constructed and perpetuated by adversarial foreign actors who have controlled the DRC’s critical minerals sector.”
Cobalt and Copper mined from Chemaf’s Etoile site in Lubumbashi, DRC. (Virtus Minerals / Chemaf)
Virtus holds 56 mining licenses in total in the DRC. Phillip Braun, Virtus Minerals CEO and Chemaf chairman, told Fox News Digital, “Our first goal is to bring the Étoile and Mutoshi plants up to full production. From there, we will explore everything Chemaf’s 56 mining permits have to offer — copper, cobalt and other metals like tungsten.”
“None of this would be possible,” Braun added, “without the strong partnership now growing between the United States and the DRC, and the support of leaders in both countries who saw what was possible. We look forward to bringing our two nations closer by building a steady, trusted supply of the minerals we depend on and supporting other American companies that want to invest in the DRC any way we can.”
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“A more active U.S. presence in these supply chains,” Cronje continued, “would mark a significant rebalancing of influence on the continent, with implications not only for resource access but for broader geopolitical alignment in regions that are becoming increasingly contested.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the DRC government for comment, but did not receive a response.
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