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How ‘I’m Still Here’ Broke U.K. Box Office Records: ‘Brazilian Enthusiasm,’ Awards Season Buzz and Altitude’s Clever Scheduling


Capitalising on enthusiasm from local Brazilians and awards season buzz, Altitude helped I'm Still Here land the U.K.'s biggest Latin American opening

The acclaimed drama became the first Brazilian feature to claim the honor — although several awards pundits suggested the film, a powerful exploration of love and grief set during Brazil’s military dictatorship of the 1970s, had a decent swing at landing its other nominations of best actress for Fernanda Torres and — even — best picture. The move actually proved to be beneficial for Altitude, as they were able to benefit from a major “shift” that began to build after the Golden Globes, where “I’m Still Here” didn’t just win best foreign language title but where Torres pulled off a shock victory in the best actress in a drama motion picture category. Last year, Variety reported how “Santosh” — a Cannes premiering Oscar submission — had struggled to find a distributor, with one exec noting that the film highlighted a “crisis in U.K. indie distribution — nobody’s buying and everybody’s terribly cautious.”

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u.k. box office