Sean Baker wins best director Oscar for ‘Anora’ in Academy Awards sweep

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Anora” creator Sean Baker won best director, best picture and two other Academy Awards at the Oscars on Sunday, bookending a dominant awards season for the American filmmaker whose stories seek to humanize sex workers and immigrants.

Baker, 53, wrote, produced, directed and edited the most dominant film of the night. The comedy-drama stars Mikey Madison as a Brooklyn exotic dancer who marries the impetuous son of a Russian oligarch. They impulsively tie the knot on a ketamine-induced Las Vegas getaway, angering his parents, who send their bumbling henchmen after the couple to force an annulment.

“Anora” swept on Sunday with five overall wins — two more than “The Brutalist.” Four of those statues went to Baker, who now ties Walt Disney for the most wins in a single year in Academy Awards history. (Unlike Disney in 1954, all Baker’s wins were for a single project. Bong Joon Ho was the previous record holder for most wins for a single film, in 2020 for “Parasite.”)

In addition to best director and best picture, Baker won for best original screenplay and best editing — a rarity as directors don’t typically cut their own films. He came into the night the favorite for the directing Oscar after earning the top prize from the Directors Guild of America, a win that historically all but guarantees an Oscars victory. He also took home the top awards at the Producers Guild and Independent Spirit Awards.

In his best director acceptance speech, he exhorted filmmakers to keep creating projects for the big screen, bemoaning the erosion of the theatergoing experience.

“In a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever,” Baker said. “It’s a communal experience you simply don’t get at home. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry.”

Baker told Quentin Tarantino, who presented the award, that if he hadn’t cast Madison in 2019’s “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” there would be no “Anora.” On Sunday, Madison took home the lead actress award — her first Oscar.

“Thank you so much to Sean. I adore you. This is all because of you,” Madison said onstage.

This year’s best director lineup featured five first-time nominees in the category for the first time in nearly three decades. All had writing credits on their respective films, demonstrating the academy’s growing preference for auteurs who can masterfully bring their own vision to life. For the Oscar, Baker beat out Brady Corbet of “The Brutalist,” James Mangold of “A Complete Unknown,” Jacques Audiard of “Emilia Pérez” and Coralie Fargeat of “The Substance.”

“Anora” brings Baker’s signature style of provocative comedy from indie theaters into the mainstream, blending slapstick humor with social commentary in a way that makes lessons about marginalized groups palatable to a wider audience. He made the film on a modest budget of $6 million — an amount one producer previously joked is smaller than the catering budget of some of its competitors. He said Sunday that it was the best $6 million ever spent. Last year’s best picture winner, “Oppenheimer,” had a $100 million budget.

Baker has been vocal about the difficulty of making independent films and surviving as an indie filmmaker in an industry that increasingly supports big-budget spectacles. In a rousing speech at the Independent Spirit Awards, he said indies are in danger of becoming “calling card films” — movies made only as a means to get hired for projects at major studios. Without backing for independent films, he said, some of the most creative and innovative projects might never be made.

He said he hopes the success of “Anora” will increase support for indie projects.

Baker has long been passionate about using his craft to help destigmatize sex work. His 2012 film “Starlet” follows a budding friendship between an adult film star and a crotchety widow who sells her a thermos full of cash at a yard sale. Baker said the connections he formed with sex workers involved in the project inspired him to feature them in several other films.

He received widespread praise for “Tangerine” (2015), in which he used three iPhone 5S smartphones to tell a story about transgender sex workers in Los Angeles. In “The Florida Project” (2017), a single mother living in an Orlando motel turns to sex work to provide for her daughter. And “Red Rocket” (2021) follows a retired porn actor’s journey back to his small Texas hometown.

Baker and Madison weren’t the only ones to pick up Oscars for “Anora” — producers Alex Coco and Samantha Quan, Baker’s wife, also received statues for the best picture win.

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This story has been corrected to fix an editing error; “Parasite” won in 2020, not 2017.

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For more coverage of the Oscars, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards.