Cinematographer Adrian Teijido ABC on the Oscar-winning film I’m Still Here

Based on the memoir by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the feature film I’m Still Here tells the story of Eunice Paiva, a mother and activist navigating the aftermath of her husband’s forced disappearance during Brazil’s military dictatorship. Directed by Walter Salles, the movie was immediately met with great acclaim when it premiered at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, and it went on to win the Best International Feature Film Oscar at the 97th Academy Awards — the first-ever Oscar for a Brazilian film.

Working with Panavision Paris for their camera and lens package, Salles and cinematographer Adrian Teijido ABC crafted distinct looks for the movie's two time periods, the 1970s and 2000s, all framed for the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. For the 1970s, Teijido paired Panavision Primo lenses with an Aaton Penelope camera, shooting 3-perf 35mm with Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 color negative. When the story reaches the 2000s, the cinematographer switched to an Arricam LT, Leitz Summilux-C lenses, and Kodak Vision3 200T 5213.

In the following Q&A, Teijido reflects on collaborating with Salles and shares their inspirations for the film’s intimate atmosphere.

Panavision: How did you meet Walter Salles and become involved in the project?

Adrian Teijido ABC: I was recommended to Walter by Sergio Machado, the director, who was [previously] Walter's assistant director. Also, I had great support from Conspiração Films.

How would you describe the look of the project?

Teijido: With Walter, we decided that the audience needed to believe in this family, so we shot I’m Still Here with a naturalist look made through subtraction, without embellishment or pyrotechnics. The idea was to create an intimate atmosphere to transport the audience into this family’s house.

Were there any particular visual references you looked at for inspiration? 

Teijido: Walter gave me a book by [Vilhelm] Hammershøi, a Danish painter. Those images were vital references for how to shoot the house. As Walter says, this is a film about absences. 

What drew you to the specific lenses you chose?

Teijido: It was essential to feel the differences between the 1970s and the 2000s. So, I shot the film's first part with Panavision Primo lenses and then used [Leitz] Summilux-C lenses for the second part. I wanted the 2000s to look clean and bright.

What brought you to Panavision for this project?

Teijido: I grew up as a cinematographer in South America. I’m still here, and the opportunity to work with Panavision was a dream come true.

What inspired you to become a cinematographer?

Teijido: Since childhood, I have been fascinated by photography — I used to have a black-and-white photo lab. We are visual storytellers. It is fascinating to generate emotions in the audience with images we create.