This article presents the analyses of how online news portals dealt with the non-nomination of the film Aquarius (2016, Kleber Mendonça Filho) for the category of best foreign language film at the Oscars (Academy Awards) of 2017. Aquarius became a controversial film after its cast protested on the red carpet at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival against the impeachment of former President Dilma Rousseff. After selecting some stories published on the day of the announcement by the Brazilian Ministry of Culture (MinC), on September 12, 2016, the texts and languages used to portray the narrative of events were analyzed. Even though the film Little Secret (2016, David Schurmann) was the official nominee for Brazil, Aquarius was the film that stood out in the main national headlines. With that, it was possible to see, from the controversy in the media involving the non-nomination of Aquarius for the Academy Award, how Brazilian cinema is intrinsically related to national politics.