**Fernanda Montenegro** (b. 1929) is an icon of Brazilian and international cinema, known for her acting career spanning seven decades. Her cinematic consecration arrived with her extraordinary performance in Walter Salles' **"Central do Brasil"** (1998), for which she received a historic Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, the first for a Portuguese-speaking actress.

In this film, Montenegro embodied Dora, a disillusioned former teacher who finds redemption by helping an orphan, an emblematic role of her style. She is renowned for her ability to bring complex, resilient female characters to life, often marked by life but endowed with profound dignity and inner strength. Other notable films include **"O Que É Isso, Companheiro?"** (1997) and **"Casa de Areia"** (2005), where she continued to explore the emotional richness and tenacity of her protagonists. Her stage presence has always been synonymous with elegance and expressive truth.