I’m Still Here by Walter Salles is the Winner of the FIPRESCI Grand Prix for Best Film of the Year

Ainda estou aquí / I’m Still Here, directed by Walter Sales, has landed the FIPRESCI Grand Prix after having been voted best film of 2025 by the members of FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics, the oldest association of professional film critics and film journalism, which celebrates its centenary this year. The vote had the participation of 739 critics from 75 countries, who have chosen this Brazilian-French production from among all those released since July 1, 2024.

Walter Salles will come to collect the award, which will be presented during the opening gala of the 73rd edition of the San Sebastián Festival on September 19th. The film will be screened on the same day, at a time to be announced on September 8th.

The other four finalists were Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist; two films which competed at Cannes: Sirāt by Oliver Laxe, programmed in Made in Spain, and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s O agente secreto / The Secret Agent, scheduled to participate in Perlak; and Sinners by Ryan Coogler.

Since its creation in 1999, the FIPRESCI Grand Prix was given to films by leading filmmakers including Maren Ade, Pedro Almodóvar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Alfonso Cuarón, Jean-Luc Godard, Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Michael Haneke, Aki Kaurismäki, Yorgos Lanthimos, Richard Linklater, Terrence Malick, George Miller, Jafar Panahi and Chloé Zhao.

Ainda estou aqui had its premiere in 2024 at the Venice Festival, where it received the Best Screenplay Award, the first on a long list of accolades that includes the Academy Award for Best International Film, where it was also nominated for Best Film and Best Actress (Fernanda Torres), and the Goya for Best Ibero-American Film.

Following its screening in Venice, the film was presented in the Perlak section by Walter Salles himself, his sixth participation in San Sebastián since his debut film, Terra Estrangeira / Foreign Land (1995), was selected for Zabaltegi-New Directors.

Ainda estou aquí, that was produced by Videofilmes and RT Features (Brazil) and Mact Productions (France), and distributed by Goodfellas, was released in Spain by Vértigo Films in February of this year.

©FIPRESCI 2025