Whoever won the prize for best director tonight was going to receive their first directing Oscar, but no nominee has labored as a filmmaker more single-mindedly for a longer time than Sean Baker. He was just announced as the winner for “Anora.”
A Cinderella story that foregrounds hot topics like class, immigration and global capitalism through the story of a stripper who initially accepts money for sex, “Anora” is in many ways typical of Baker’s oeuvre. Like several of his past movies, including “Tangerine” (2015) and “The Florida Project” (2017), it blends comedy and drama, depicts sex workers sympathetically and makes copious use of nonprofessional actors.
But “Anora” signaled Baker’s mainstream recognition. Nearly a year ago, the film won the top prize, the Palme d’Or, at the Cannes Film Festival; more recently, it picked up top prizes from the directors and producers guilds. When the Oscar nominations were released earlier this year, Baker received his first nods — for picture (as one of the producers) and editing, along with directing and screenwriting — and the actress Mikey Madison, who plays the title character, also received her first nomination, for lead actress.
Baker beat out directors Jacques Audiard, for “Emilia Pérez”; Brady Corbet, for “The Brutalist”; Coralie Fargeat, for “The Substance”; and James Mangold, for “A Complete Unknown.”
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