List of Brazilian Academy Award winners and nominees

This is a list of Brazilian Academy Awards winners and nominees, totaling twenty-two nominations in twelve different categories and one win.

The first Brazilian to be nominated for an Academy Award was Ary Barroso, one of Música Popular Brasileira's greatest composers, in 1945. ^[1] In 2025, the film I'm Still Here became the first Brazilian victory at the Oscars, winning the Best International Film category. ^[2]

In this list, the nominations are presented by categories (for Brazilian nominees) and by productions (for Brazilian coproductions and nominees).

By Categories

This section presents a list of films in which at least one of the nominees in the category is a Brazilian artist.

Fernando Meirelles was the third Brazilian director to be nominated for an Academy Award in 2004.

Best Picture

Best Picture
Year	Film Title	Nominee(s)	Status	Milestone/Notes
2024	I'm Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui)	Maria Carlota Bruno Rodrigo Teixeira	Nominated	First Portuguese-speaking movie nominated in this category. [2] [3]

Best Directing

Best Directing
Year	Film Title	Nominee(s)	Status	Milestone/Notes
1985	Kiss of the Spider Woman (O Beijo da Mulher Aranha)	Héctor Babenco	Nominated	Babenco was an Argentine-born Brazilian director. [4] [5]
2002	City of God (Cidade de Deus)	Fernando Meirelles	Nominated	[6]

Fernanda Montenegro became the first Portuguese-speaking actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 1998.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Year	Film Title	Nominee(s)	Status	Milestone/Notes
1998	Central Station (Central do Brasil)	Fernanda Montenegro	Nominated	First Latin American to be nominated for Best Actress and first actress to be nominated for a Portuguese-speaking role. [7] [8]
2024	I'm Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui)	Fernanda Torres	Nominated	Fernanda Montenegro's daughter, they became the second mother and daughter duo to be nominated for best actress. [2] [9]

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Year	Film Title	Nominee(s)	Status	Milestone/Notes
2002	City of God (Cidade de Deus)	Bráulio Mantovani	Nominated	[6]

Best Animated Feature Film

Best Animated Feature Film
Year	Film Title	Nominee(s)	Status	Milestone/Notes
2015	Boy and the World (O Menino e o Mundo)	Alê Abreu	Nominated	[10]
2017	Ferdinand	Carlos Saldanha	Nominated	Saldanha was nominated with producer Lori Forte. [11]

Best International Feature Film

See also: List of Brazilian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

Best International Feature Film
Year	Film Title	Direction	Status	Milestone/Notes
1962	Keeper of Promises (O Pagador de Promessas)	Anselmo Duarte	Nominated	First Brazilian production to receive a nomination at the Academy Awards. [12] [13]
1995	O Quatrilho	Fábio Barreto	Nominated	[14]
1997	Four Days in September (O Que É Isso, Companheiro?)	Bruno Barreto	Nominated	[15]
1998	Central Station (Central do Brasil)	Walter Salles	Nominated	[7]
2024	I'm Still Here (Ainda Estou Aqui)	Walter Salles	Won	First Brazilian production to win an Academy Award. [2]

Best Documentary Feature Film

Best Documentary Feature Film
Year	Film Title	Nominee(s)	Status	Milestone/Notes
1981	El Salvador: Another Vietnam	Tetê Vasconcellos	Nominated	Vasconcellos was Brazil's first director nominated for an Oscar. She was nominated with director Glenn Silber. [16] [17]
2014	The Salt of the Earth (O Sal da Terra)	Juliano Ribeiro Salgado	Nominated	Salgado is a French-born Brazilian director. He was nominated with producer Wim Wenders and David Rosier. [18] [19]
2019	The Edge of Democracy (Democracia em Vertigem)	Petra Costa Tiago Pavan	Nominated	Costa and Pavan were nominated with producers Joanna Natasegara and Shane Boris. [20]

Best Documentary Short Film

Best Documentary Short Film
Year	Film Title	Nominee(s)	Status	Milestone/Notes
2021	Lead Me Home	Pedro Kos	Nominated	Kos was nominated with director Jon Shenk. [21] [22]

Best Live Action Short Film

Best Live Action Short Film
Year	Film Title	Nominee(s)	Status	Milestone/Notes
2000	A Soccer Story (Uma História de Futebol)	Paulo Machline	Nominated	[23]

Best Animated Short Film

Best Animated Short Film
Year	Film Title	Nominee(s)	Status	Milestone/Notes
2003	Gone Nutty	Carlos Saldanha	Nominated	First animated short film directed by a Latin-American director to be nominated in this category. Saldanha was nominated with producer John C. Donkin. [6]

Best Music (Original Song)

Best Music (Original Song)
Year	Film Title	Song	Nominee(s)	Status	Milestone/Notes
1944	Brazil	"Rio de Janeiro"	Ary Barroso	Nominated	First Brazilian and Latin-American songwriter to be nominated. Barroso was nominated with lyricist Ned Washington. [1] [24]
2011	Rio	"Real in Rio"	Sergio Mendes Carlinhos Brown	Nominated	First two Brazilian songwriters to be nominated together. Brown was the first black Latin songwriter to be nominated. They were nominated with lyricist Siedah Garrett. [25]

Best Film Editing

Best Film Editing
Year	Film Title	Nominee(s)	Status	Milestone/Notes
2003	City of God (Cidade de Deus)	Daniel Rezende	Nominated	[6]

By Productions

This section presents a list of all films that involve Brazilian co-productions and Brazilian nominees for the Oscars.

Although four Brazilian co-productions have already won an Academy Award, none of them were awarded to Brazilians. The first victory, in fact, only occurred in 2025, with the film I'm Still Here winning the Best International Film category.

Nominees who do not have Brazilian citizenship are indicated with a double dagger "‡" and with a gray background in the status.

Year	Film Title	Category	Nominee(s)	Status	Production	Ref.
1944	Brazil	Best Music (Song) for "Rio de Janeiro"	Ary Barroso ‡ Ned Washington	Nominated	United States	[1] [26]
1959	Black Orpheus	Best Foreign Language Film	‡ France	Won	Brazil   France   Italy	[27] [26]
1962	Keeper of Promises	Best Foreign Language Film	Brazil	Nominated	Brazil	[12] [26]
1978	Raoni	Best Documentary (Feature)	‡ Jean-Pierre Dutilleux ‡ Barry Williams ‡ Michel Gast	Nominated	Belgium   Brazil   France	[28] [26]
1981	El Salvador: Another Vietnam	Best Documentary (Feature)	‡ Glenn Silber Tetê Vasconcellos	Nominated	United States	[16] [26]
1985	Kiss of the Spider Woman	Best Picture	‡ David Weisman	Nominated	Brazil   United States	[4] [26]
		Best Directing	Héctor Babenco	Nominated
		Best Actor in a Leading Role	‡ William Hurt	Won
		Best Writing (Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium)	‡ Leonard Schrader	Nominated
1995	O Quatrilho	Best Foreign Language Film	Brazil	Nominated	Brazil	[14] [26]
1997	Four Days in September	Best Foreign Language Film	Brazil	Nominated	Brazil	[15] [26]
1998	Central Station	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Fernanda Montenegro	Nominated	Brazil   France	[7] [26]
		Best Foreign Language Film	Brazil	Nominated
2000	A Soccer Story	Best Short Film (Live Action)	Paulo Machline	Nominated	Brazil	[23] [26]
2002	City of God	Best Directing	Fernando Meirelles	Nominated	Brazil	[6] [26]
		Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)	Bráulio Mantovani	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	‡ César Charlone	Nominated
		Best Film Editing	Daniel Rezende	Nominated
2003	Gone Nutty	Best Short Film (Animated)	Carlos Saldanha ‡ John C. Donkin	Nominated	United States	[6] [26]
2004	The Motorcycle Diaries	Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)	‡ José Rivera	Nominated	Argentina   Brazil   Chile   France   Germany   Peru   United Kingdom   United States	[29]
		Best Music (Original Song) for "Al otro lado del río"	‡ Jorge Drexler	Won
2010	Waste Land	Best Documentary (Feature)	‡ Lucy Walker ‡ Angus Aynsley	Nominated	Brazil   United Kingdom	[30] [26]
2011	Rio	Best Music (Original Song) for "Real in Rio"	Sérgio Mendes Carlinhos Brown ‡ Siedah Garrett	Nominated	United States	[25] [26]
2014	The Salt of the Earth	Best Documentary (Feature)	Juliano Ribeiro Salgado ‡ Wim Wenders ‡ David Rosier	Nominated	Brazil   France   Italy	[18] [26]
2015	Boy and the World	Best Animated Feature Film	Alê Abreu	Nominated	Brazil	[10] [26]
2017	Call Me by Your Name	Best Picture	‡ Peter Spears ‡ Luca Guadagnino ‡ Émilie Georges ‡ Marco Morabito	Nominated	Brazil   France   Italy   United States	[11]
		Best Actor in a Leading Role	‡ Timothée Chalamet	Nominated
		Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)	‡ James Ivory	Won
		Best Music (Original Song) for "Mystery of Love"	‡ Sufjan Stevens	Nominated
2017	Ferdinand	Best Animated Feature Film	Carlos Saldanha ‡ Lori Forte	Nominated	United States	[11] [26]
2019	The Edge of Democracy	Best Documentary (Feature)	Petra Costa ‡ Joanna Natasegara ‡ Shane Boris Tiago Pavan	Nominated	Brazil	[20] [26]
2021	Lead Me Home	Best Documentary (Short Subject)	Pedro Kos ‡ Jon Shenk	Nominated	United States	[21]
2024	I'm Still Here	Best Picture	Maria Carlota Bruno Rodrigo Teixeira	Nominated	Brazil   France	[2]
		Best Actress in a Leading Role	Fernanda Torres	Nominated
		Best International Feature Film	Brazil	Won

References

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