I'm Still Here (2025) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Rubens Paiva was arrested because he was secretly supporting political exiles who fled Brazil's military dictatorship. Although he kept his political activities hidden from his family, the military authorities discovered his involvement in helping pro-democracy activists escape the country. His work with political exiles made him a target of the regime's crackdown on dissent.

Foreshadowing: The film establishes early that Rubens quietly continues his political support after the 1964 coup, hinting at the danger this creates.

• rubens paiva arrest
• military dictatorship brazil
• political exiles
• 1964 coup

After Rubens disappeared, Eunice publicly questioned the military about his whereabouts. This led to her own arrest in January 1971. She endured 12 days of interrogation and torture, during which authorities pressured her to reveal whether her husband was involved with pro-democracy movements. She denied any knowledge of his activities.

• eunice paiva torture
• 12 days interrogation
• military regime brazil

Eunice learned of Rubens's death from Félix, a journalist and family friend, who informed her that Rubens had been killed. The military authorities refused to officially confirm his death, maintaining a policy of denial about the fate of political prisoners. This left Eunice to fight for recognition of his disappearance for decades.

Foreshadowing: Earlier false newspaper reports claiming Rubens fled the country created confusion that made the truth harder to uncover.

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• félix journalist
• military denial brazil

The military raid on the Paiva home occurred because authorities had identified Rubens as someone helping political exiles. Even though he never discussed his activities with his family, the regime's intelligence apparatus tracked his connections to the underground network supporting dissidents who were fleeing Brazil.

• paiva house raid
• political prisoners brazil
• lei de seguranca nacional

Although five men were identified as responsible for Rubens Paiva's murder at the DOI-CODI headquarters between January 21-22, 1971, none was ever prosecuted. This reflects the broader pattern of impunity for human rights abuses committed during Brazil's military dictatorship, where the legal system failed to hold perpetrators accountable even after the return to democracy.

Foreshadowing: The film shows the military authorities refusing to confirm Rubens's death, demonstrating the regime's strategy of denial.

• doi-codi headquarters
• impunity dictatorship
• human rights brazil
• military crimes not prosecuted

In 2014, the 85-year-old Eunice was living with advanced Alzheimer's disease. When a news report about the National Truth Commission addressed Rubens's case during a family gathering, she became visibly distressed and appeared to remember her husband in that moment. This poignant scene connects the national reckoning with historical trauma to her personal memory.

• national truth commission 2014
• eunice paiva alzheimer's
• memory dictatorship

Vera Paiva, the eldest daughter, was not present during the military raid on her home. She had previously witnessed military violence, which prompted the family's friends Fernando and Dalva Gasparian to take her with them when they fled to London in early 1971. This decision protected her from the immediate danger but separated her from her family during the crisis.

• vera paiva london
• gasparian family fled brazil

Eunice filed a habeas corpus petition with the help of lawyer Lino Machado as a legal strategy to force the military authorities to disclose Rubens's whereabouts. This was a common tactic used by families of disappeared political prisoners, seeking to use the legal system to challenge the state's refusal to acknowledge arrests. The petition represented the beginning of Eunice's decades-long fight for truth and accountability.

• habeas corpus brazil
• lino machado lawyer
• legal fight disappeared

Rubens's official death certificate arrived in 1996, nearly 25 years after his murder, because Brazil had returned to democracy in 1985 and was finally able to acknowledge the fate of victims of political violence. The document arrived during Eunice's public appearance with journalists, allowing her to use the moment to demand reparations for victims' families and accountability for the dictatorship's crimes.

• death certificate 1996
• brazil democracy 1996
• reparations dictatorship victims

After selling the family home in Rio de Janeiro, Eunice moved to São Paulo to be closer to her maternal family. There she rebuilt her life while raising her five children without their father. She later earned a law degree at age 48 and became one of Brazil's leading experts on indigenous rights, serving as a counselor for the federal government, the World Bank, and the United Nations.

• eunice paiva law degree
• indigenous rights expert brazil
• world bank united nations