I'm Still Here

The Paiva family finds a stray dog on a Rio de Janeiro beach and names it Pimpao. They bring the dog home despite knowing their parents won’t approve, and Pimpao quickly becomes part of the family. The presence of the dog introduces a new, small joy amid growing tensions.

Rubens is a former congressman who lost his position after the 1964 coup and entered self-imposed exile. The family discusses leaving Brazil to seek safety abroad, weighing the risks of staying. The political danger casts a shadow over everyday life.

Vera is sent to London with a couple to verify that their shelter isn’t a scam. The kidnapping of the Swiss ambassador adds to the sense of danger and motivates emigration. The move marks a widening family separation in a time of political repression.

Dr. Schneider arrives with armed men and demands that Rubens accompany them to give a deposition. The intrusion unsettles Eunice and raises the stakes for the family amid state pressure. The line between private life and state surveillance blurs.

Eunice searches Rubens’ study and finds writings that hint at his activities. She and Eliana are taken to a police station for questioning, with Eliana wearing a hood during transport. The interrogation centers on Rubens’ alleged ties to communism and Vera in London.

Eliana is released after 24 hours, while Eunice is imprisoned for 12 days and witnesses the cruelty inflicted on other prisoners. The experience leaves Eliana traumatized and the family more fearful for their future. The state’s aggression reverberates through the household.

Eunice meets with Rubens’ expatriate colleagues to pressure the press and publicize his disappearance. Despite their efforts, authorities deny knowledge of Rubens’s whereabouts. The family clings to hope while the truth remains elusive.

Martha, a teacher photographed with Rubens, reveals she too was detained and fears reporting retaliation. Eunice continues to pursue information while the network around Rubens’s case tightens. A tension-filled moment surrounds reporting on the case.

Pimpao is fatally struck by a car and buried in the backyard. The loss adds another blow to a family already under siege by state intimidation. The tragedy compounds the sense of fragility in their lives.

A friend, Felix, tells Eunice that Rubens was reported to have died in combat, feeding the rumor mill and despair. The lack of official confirmation underscores the government’s control over information. The family faces a painful ambiguity about Rubens’s fate.

Vera comes back from London, rejoining her family as they cope with uncertainty and seek clues about Rubens’s fate. A journalist captures the family in a moment of forced cheer, signaling the strange balance between public and private life during repression.

Eunice announces she will return to college and that the children will live with their grandparents in Sao Paulo to stabilize the family. The plan marks a formal separation of the nuclear unit from its familiar home base. It also signals Eunice’s growing determination to build a future beyond fear.

In 1996, the family travels to Sao Paulo where Eunice has become a lawyer. They are officially issued Rubens’s death certificate, providing a formal acknowledgment of his fate. The moment crystallizes years of searching for closure.

In 2014, the family reunites in Sao Paulo. Eunice, now aging and suffering from Alzheimer’s, watches a news report confirming Rubens’s murder and that his body was never recovered. The memory jolts her and reconnects her to the past.

The final text states that Rubens Paiva was murdered by the Brazilian government and that those responsible were never brought to justice. Eunice dedicates the rest of her life to her work as a lawyer and activist, until her death in 2018. Her unwavering pursuit of answers defines the family’s enduring legacy.