Historic wins of Sean Baker and 'Anora' at the Oscars

The little indie film that could went on to flex its muscles and show its power at the 97th Academy Awards! "Anora," the Sean Baker-helmed film about a sex worker, walked away with five Oscars.

The film, which won the Palme d'Or award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, bagged the coveted Best Picture award, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing. The film's lead actress, first-time Oscar nominee Mikey Madison, beat Demi Moore of "The Substance," Fernanda Torres of "I'm Still Here," Cynthia Erivo of "Wicked," and Karla Sofia Gascon of "Emilia Perez."

The boyish and charming 54-year-old Baker, whom we first met in Cannes, said in his acceptance speech when he received the Best Director award, "So we're all here tonight and watching this broadcast because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with movies? At the movie theater. Watching a film in the theater with an audience is an experience.

"We can laugh together, cry together, scream in fright together, perhaps sit in devastated silence 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 simply don't get at home.

"And right now, the theatergoing experience is under threat. Movie theaters, especially independently owned theaters, are struggling, and it's up to us to support them. During the pandemic, we lost nearly 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.

"Filmmakers keep making films for the big screen. I know I will. Distributors, please focus first and foremost on the theatrical releases of your films. Neon did that for me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Parents, introduce your children to feature films in movie theaters, and you'll be molding the next generation of movie lovers and filmmakers. And for all of us, when we can, please watch movies in the theater, and let's keep the great tradition of the moviegoing experience alive and well."

He added, "And one last thing, my mother introduced me to cinema at five years old. Today is also her birthday. Happy birthday Mom. I love you. Thank you for everything. This is for you."

Baker became the first person to win four awards for the same film. He produced, directed, wrote, and edited "Anora."

The movie, which stars Madison as Anora/Ani, an exotic dancer who falls in love with the son of a Russian oligarch, also stars Mark Eidelstein, Yura Borisov, Karren Karagulian and Vache Tovmasyan.

Baker, who brought in Andrea Werhur as their chief consultant, worked closely with Madison. Werhur wrote her memoir, "Modern Whore," which Madison read. Werhur also gave Madison and Baker pointers and details and told them what worked and what didn't. Madison also shadowed dancers so she could figure out how they worked.

When he won Best Original Screenplay, Baker thanked the sex worker community. He said, "They have shared their stories, their life experiences with me over the years. My deepest respect. I share this with you."

Backstage, when asked how the social realist films of world indie cinema filmmakers like the late Lino Brocka inspire him, Baker replied, "Thank you for bringing up social realism. It's been a genre that has very much inspired my work from, as you just said, the wonderful Filipino social realism to, the British social realism.

"With this film, we were definitely infusing some social realism in there, but we were trying to mix it up as well. We were actually kind of genre-hopping in many ways.

"What is so important about social realism is that it really focuses on the truth. It is often character studies, sometimes issue based. It is really shining a light on subjects that should be spoken about."

When Quentin Tarantino presented him with his Best Director award, he told Tarantino, "Quentin, if you didn't cast Mike Madison in 'Once Upon A Time,' there would be no 'Anora.' Thank you. Thank you so much and for all your incredible work."

Baker saw Madison in Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and according to him, "She steals the last 15 minutes of the movie. I was intrigued by her. And I'm always looking out for fresh talent, being that I cast my own films. So, I kept her in the back of my head as somebody who was very interesting and somebody I might want to work with someday."

Then after watching "Scream," he saw her again and "she showed range. She had a unique physicality, meaning her face, very unique, her eyes.

And so, I made the decision there and then in the theater. I turned to my wife and producer, Samantha Quan, and I said, 'We're calling her agents the second we step out of the theater.' And we did."

Madison, the 25-year-old Angeleno, said in her acceptance speech, "Wow, this is very surreal. Forgive me. I'm nervous, I'm going to read off of a paper, but thank you so much to the Academy. I grew up in Los Angeles, but Hollywood always felt so far away from me, so to be here standing in this room today is really incredible.

"I also just want to again recognize and honor the sex worker community. I will continue to support and be an ally. All of the incredible people, the women, whom I've had the privilege of meeting from that community have been one of the highlights of this incredible experience. I also just want to recognize the thoughtful, intelligent, beautiful, breathtaking work of my fellow nominees. I'm honored to be recognized alongside all of you. This is a dream come true; I'm probably going to wake up tomorrow. Thank you so much, Sean. I adore you. This is all because of you. Thank you."

Backstage, when asked what it meant to her to not only win the Oscar Best Actress but also for Baker to win four Oscars, the soft-spoken and lovely Madison replied, "Oh my gosh, it's for lack of a better word just incredibly surreal. I never thought anything like this would happen in my life. I just love making movies and I've dreamed of being an actress who would be able to be in a film like 'Anora' my entire career as an actress. And so, it's a huge honor, one that I think will soak in later down the line, hopefully. I really did not expect it at all.

As for Baker winning four Oscars for the movie, she said, "Sean is such a wonderful and incredible filmmaker. He is an incredible writer, and an amazing editor. He is a true lover of cinema, a kind person. He has dedicated so much of his career to telling really important stories. And so, I'm so happy for him because he's just a true indie filmmaker. Like we went off and just made this weird crazy movie and had fun and poured our hearts into it. And you know, all of this started at Cannes, which was just a dream come true for me, a career-long dream to even just go to a film festival, specifically Cannes, and so everything that followed was wonderful.

"But I'm just so happy for him. I adore him and I adore (co-producers) Sammy (Samantha) Quan and Alex Coco and the entire team, and so I could keep talking about them forever."

The other winners at the 97th Academy Awards show included Adrien Brody (Best Actor in a Leading Role, "The Brutalist"), Kieran Culkin (Best Actor in a Supporting Role, "A Real Pain"), Zoe Saldana (Best Actress in a Supporting Role, "Emilia Perez"), "Flow" (Best Animated Feature Film), "No Other Land" (Best Documentary Feature Film), and "I'm Still Here" (Best International Feature Film).

—MGP, GMA Integrated News