Carnival always breathes life into the economy of Vila Vintem, on Rio de Janeiro’s west side, but this year there’s even more, with its Unidos de Padre Miguel samba school back in the top parade league for the first time in 57 years.

Rio's Carnival continued in full swing with top samba schools parading at the Sambadrome. View on euronews

Four of Rio's top samba schools took center stage on the opening night of Carnival parades on Sunday. (AP video shot by Mario Lobão and Lucas Dumphreys)

Rio de Janeiro's massive Sambadrome erupted in noisy celebrations Sunday as the news broke that Brazil won its first Oscar,

The best international feature Academy Award for Walter Salles’ timely drama backdropped the annual celebrations and validated a political movement: “It’s hard to put into words just how big of a moment this is.