Walter Salles to Receive 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award in Film

The International Peace Alliance | Alliance Internationale de la Paix (IPA | AIP) is proud to announce that acclaimed Brazilian filmmaker Walter Moreira Salles Jr. has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award in Film. The prestigious award will be presented at the Peace Ambassadors Awards Gala & Grand Ball on Friday, September 26, 2025, at the historic King Edward Hotel in Toronto, Canada.

“Walter Salles’ films offer profound insight into the human condition and confront the urgent social issues of our time. His work resonates globally and stands as a testament to the transformative power of art in advancing peace, justice, and human dignity.” — Dr. Alvin Curling, IPA‐AIP President

A Visionary Voice in Global Cinema 

A pioneering figure in Brazil’s Cinema da Retomada (Resumption Cinema) movement, Mr. Walter Salles is recognized as one of the most influential Brazilian filmmakers of all time. His films have earned international acclaim for their artistic depth, humanism, and social relevance.

Acclaimed Works and Global Recognition 

Mr. Salles gained global recognition in 1998 with Central Station, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival and earned two Academy Award nominations. He later directed acclaimed English-language films such as Dark Water and On the Road, and achieved widespread success with the Che Guevara biopic The Motorcycle Diaries (2004), an international arthouse hit. 

In 2024, after a 12-year hiatus from Brazilian cinema, Mr. Salles returned with I’m Still Here, the powerful true story of Eunice Paiva, a human rights activist who confronted the forced disappearance of her husband during Brazil’s military dictatorship. The film earned three Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and made history by winning Best International Feature Film, the first for Brazil. Lead actress Fernanda Torres won the Golden Globe for Best Actress for her role. 

Themes of Identity and Resistance

Mr. Salles’ body of work explores themes of identity, displacement, and the impact of social and political landscapes on individual lives. His characters often face poverty, repression, and systemic injustice, ultimately discovering resilience, courage, and renewal. Recent work has continued to focus on individuals who resist injustice, echoing the mission and values of the International Peace Alliance | Alliance Internationale de la Paix.