Vinícius de Oliveira , a shoeshine boy, beat out more than 1,500 other young actors for the role of Josué.
When Fernanda Montenegro set up her table at Central Station, real people approached her to write letters for them. Some of these real talks were incorporated by director Walter Salles and appear in the movie.
In addition to the double win (best film and actress) at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival, the film has won both the Golden Globes and Bafta awards for Best Foreign Language film, but lost the Academy Award for A Vida é Bela (1997) .
The religious procession was part of the script and the extras were real devotes. It became a real religious event that night in the city and director Walter Salles decided to shoot the scenes as a documentary, because all the extras were really praying.
Dora's new television, bought with the money she earned selling Josué, presents a popular Brazilian TV program called "Topa Tudo Por Dinheiro," which means "Do Anything For Money."