On March 2, the Brazilian film I’m Still Here was awarded the Oscar for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. The screenplay for the film was co-written by Murilo Hauser, a Fulbrighter from Brazil who studied writing for film at the University of Southern California from 2013 to 2015.
Hauser says of his Fulbright experience, “the opportunity to pursue an MFA in Writing for Film and TV at the University of Southern California, with a Fulbright . . . was an important turning point in my artistic career. . . .It was an opportunity to delve into the study of different narrative techniques and to dedicate myself to writing, and it changed the way I see the work of the screenwriter.”
Hauser credits Fulbright for introducing him to valuable mentors at USC, including prolific writer, editor, producer, and Fulbright alumna Mary Sweeney. Both Sweeney and Ted Braun, producer of the Academy-Award winning film Crash, “read the script for I’m Still Here and contributed valuable insights to the film’s writing process,” says Hauser.
Sweeney has won accolades as an editor, producer, and writer with long-term collaborator and director David Lynch. She wrote episodes for Twin Peaks and its sequel Twin Peaks: Firewalk with Me and was the film editor of Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. Recently, she has collaborated with Mad Men showrunner Matt Weiner as a writer and editor of The Romanoffs. Sweeney is a two-time awardee for the Fulbright Specialist Program, which allows institutions abroad to host American experts for short-term projects. She was a Fulbright Specialist in Jordan, where she was hosted by the Red Sea Institute of Cinematic Arts in 2010, and in Burma, where she mentored film students through the American Center in 2013. She also participated in the U.S. Department of State-sponsored American Film Showcases in Kazakhstan, Laos, and Greece.
Both Sweeney and Hauser uphold Fulbright’s goals of creating long-lasting ties between institutions and international communities through mentorship. Hauser returned to his Fulbright host institution USC in February of 2025 alongside I’m Still Here’s director Walter Salles to answer questions about screenwriting and filmmaking from current students.
After Hauser’s Fulbright to USC, he wrote the screenplays for multiple films, including the shorts What Young People Call Music (2017) and Bergman’s Hammars (2018) and feature-length film Invisible Life (2019). Hauser and his writing partner Heitor Lorega then began to adapt the memoir I’m Still Here into a screenplay for a feature-length film. After it was released in 2024, they received the award for best screenplay at the Venice International Film Festival.
The film was the first Brazilian film in over two decades to make over $4 million in box office receipts in the United States. Following its commercial success and critical acclaim, I’m Still Here became the first Brazilian film to be nominated for the Academy Award’s Best Picture category and the first Brazilian film to win an Academy Award (Best International Feature Film).
The Fulbright Specialist Program, a short-term complement to the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, sends more than 400 experienced U.S. faculty and professionals abroad annually to serve as expert consultants and engage in education and/or training activities for a period of two to six weeks. Specialists, who represent a wide range of professional and academic disciplines, are competitively selected to join the Fulbright Specialist Roster based upon their expertise and ability to make a significant contribution to institutions abroad. Individuals on the Roster are then eligible to be matched with approved projects, which are proposed by eligible overseas