As the opening Take That needle drop in “Anora” says, this could be the greatest day for Sean Baker. The filmmaker accepted the Oscar for best director at Sunday’s ceremony, taking home the prize for helming the wild indie success. The award was presented to Baker by Quentin Tarantino.
Accepting the award, his third during the evening, Baker made a “battle cry” for movie theaters, telling filmmakers to “keep making films for the big screen. I know I will.”
“We’re all here tonight and watching this broadcast because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater,” Baker said. “Watching a film in the theater with an audience is an experience. We can laugh together, cry together, and, in a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever. It’s a communal experience you don’t get at home. And right now, the theater-going experience is under threat.”
“Movie theaters, especially independently-owned theaters are struggling,” Baker continued. “During the pandemic, we lost 1,000 screens in the U.S. And we continue to lose them regularly. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry.”
“Distributors, please focus first and foremost on the theatrical releases of your film. Neon did that for me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” Baker said. “Parents, introduce your children to feature films in movie theaters and you’ll be molding the next generation of movie lovers and filmmakers. And when we can, please watch movies in the theater and let’s keep the great tradition of the movie-going experience alive and well.”
Baker also thanked his mom for introducing cinema to him early in his life, shouting out her birthday. The speech also opened with the filmmaker shouting out Tarantino, who cast “Anora” star Mikey Madison in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” — the first time that Baker saw his future collaborator on screen.
The victory marked the crest of a resurgent awards campaign for Baker, which began months ago when “Anora” was awarded the Palme d’Or after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. After a theatrical release from Neon in the fall and numerous honors from critics bodies, Baker, a self-proclaimed “indie film lifer,” nabbed top honors at the Directors Guild of America Awards in February.
In the best director category, Baker emerged triumphant over a field of fellow best picture nominee helmers, including Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Pérez”), Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”), Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”) and James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”).
“Anora” nabbed six Oscar nominations in this year’s field, with Baker also getting nods for best original screenplay, best editing and best picture, which he shares as a producer with Alex Coco and Samantha Quan, Baker’s wife. Baker had won the screenplay and editing awards earlier in the evening. Mikey Madison soon after won for best actress and “Anora” nabbed best picture. Yura Borisov was nominated in supporting actor.
In moving from romantic comedy to crime thriller and other wild tonal territories, the low-budget indie follows Ani (Madison), a New York stripper who elopes with the son of an uber rich Russian oligarch (Mark Eydelshteyn) and enters a world of trouble. Produced for around $6 million, “Anora” marks Baker’s eighth feature film and only his second breakthrough with Oscar voters, previously steering Willem Dafoe to a supporting actor nomination for “The Florida Project.”
From Variety US