Carnival celebrations were raging across Rio on Sunday night when everyone stopped to pay attention. The Oscar for best international feature was about to be announced from Hollywood, and all eyes were fixed on whether the country or anyone associated with it would win its first Oscar.

When Spanish actress Penélope Cruz announced that “I’m Still Here” was the winner of best international film at the Academy Awards, Brazilians roared at home and on the streets, where Carnival festivi

I’m Still Here,” a film about a family torn apart by the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for more than two decades, gave Brazil’s first Oscars win on Sunday in the best international film category.

Brazilian movie "I'm Still Here", set against the backdrop of the military dictatorship and recounting the true story of a mother of five whose husband disappears, made history on Sunday by earning Brazil its first Oscar in a major category.

I’m Still Here, directed by Walter Salles, tells the true story of Eunice Paiva and her family after her husband, politician Rubens Paiva, is arrested and mysteriously disappears amid Brazil’s military dictatorship in the 1970s.

The film tells the true story of Eunice Paiva's struggle to uncover the truth about her husband's forced disappearance in 1971.