“I’m Still Here,” a Brazilian film set against a military dictatorship and the true story of a mother of five whose husband disappears, made history on Sunday by winning Brazil’s first Oscar in a major category.

However, the film failed to win Best Picture, which went to “Anora,” and Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres did not win the Oscar for Best Actress.

Adapted from the emotional 2015 memoir by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the son of protagonist Eunice Paiva, “I Am Still Here” shares a heartbreaking story of loss and resilience in the face of oppression.

Director Walter Salles dedicated the award to Eunice Paiva and the two actresses who play her in the film, Fernanda Torres and her mother Fernanda Montenegro, in his acceptance speech.

“I don’t think it’s a film that’s accepted. “It’s a culture that’s accepted. “In Brazil, the way we do cinema is accepted,” Salles told reporters backstage.

The Paiva family was among the many victims of Brazil’s 21-year military rule, which began after a 1964 military coup. During this time, thousands of people were detained, tortured, hundreds were forcibly disappeared, and many were exiled and persecuted.

Salles sees democracy as increasingly fragile around the world.

“I never thought it would be so fragile in this country,” he said, referring to the United States. “So what happened in Brazil in the past feels very close to our present.”

The last Brazilian film nominated by the Academy in the international category was “Central Station,” directed by Salles in 1999.

In 1960, “Black Orpheus,” a co-production between France, Italy and Brazil, with a predominantly Brazilian cast and French direction, won the international category, but the award went to France.

The Oscars were held in conjunction with the Brazilian carnival, and as news of the win spread, the streets were filled with joy. Despite widespread disappointment over Torres’ defeat, thousands of revelers, some holding Oscar statues or dressed as Academy Award winner Fernanda Torres, celebrated with music, dancing and festivities.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva posted on social media that he recognized the award as a work that demonstrated the importance of fighting authoritarianism.

“Today is a day to be even more proud of being Brazilian. Proud of our cinema, our artists and, above all, our democracy,” he wrote.