Oscars 2025: Sean Baker makes history with four wins in one night
Anora director Sean Baker has made history by becoming the first person to win four Oscars for the same film on the same night.
The Florida Project and Red Rocket director has been on a steady rise in Hollywood for the last decade, and Anora has been his biggest hit so far in critical and commercial terms.
The racy comedy-drama about the marriage of a sex worker and the son of a Russian oligarch has captured the imaginations of audiences, critics, and Academy voters alike.
When nominations were announced, Baker discovered he would be vying for glory in four categories: ‘Best Picture,’ ‘Best Director,’ ‘Best Original Screenplay,’ and ‘Best Film Editing.’
These nominations meant he had the chance to be the first person to tie a record set more than 70 years ago by none other than Walt Disney. In 1953, Disney won four Oscars in a single night, taking home ‘Best Documentary (Feature)’, ‘Best Documentary (Short Subject)’, ‘Best Short Subject (Cartoon)’, and ‘Best Short Subject (Two-reel)’.
In truth, Anora’s Cinderella story was a tale that weaved its way throughout the night, with Baker delivering several excellent speeches as he built up to the biggest win of the night, ‘Best Picture.’
“We made this movie for $6million,” his team said. “Please keep making independent films—we need them. This is proof.” Before the director added: “I want to thank the Academy for recognising a truly independent film.”
In Far Out’s review of Anora, Emily Ruuskanen described the film as “a shattering odyssey of love in a modern world, a film that feels more urgent than his others in the way he chooses to end it, exposing a society that has been corrupted by materialism and our misogynistic dating standards. There is no dream sequence or faint optimism, just a woman who has been punished for being briefly hopeful for a fairy-tale ending, longing for stability and a human love story in a heartless world.”
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