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2025 Academy Awards: “Anora” Sweeps the Oscars With Five Wins

Belle W — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 06:04:00 +0000

This year’s Academy Awards were as unpredictable as it gets, and they brought many epic moments our way. It was a night to remember for the cast and crew of Anora, as Sean Baker’s indie comedy emerged as the night’s biggest winner with five Oscars, including the coveted best picture award.

Emilia Pérez, The Brutalist, Wicked, and Conclave were some of the front-runners for the best picture prize, but they couldn’t stand their ground against Anora. Sean Baker collected an Oscar for producing this acclaimed indie comedy, in addition to being honored for his work as its director, screenwriter, and editor.

Mikey Madison, the leading lady of Anora, also had a reason to celebrate after beating tough competition to win an Oscar for her titular role in this film. The list of winners in the acting categories also included Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), and Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez).

The Brutalist was among the night’s biggest winners, and it walked away with three trophies after scoring ten nominations. Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, and Wicked were right behind with two each, mostly in technical categories.

The 2025 Academy Awards took place on March 2 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, with Conan O’Brien hosting the festivities for the first time.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS AT THE 2025 ACADEMY AWARDS:

BEST PICTURE
Anora
A Cre Films Production
Alex Coco, Samantha Quan, and Sean Baker

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Mikey Madison – Anora

DIRECTING
Sean Baker – Anora

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
The Brutalist
Daniel Blumberg

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
I’m Still Here (Brazil)
A VideoFilmes Produções Artísticas Production

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Brutalist
Lol Crawley

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
I’m Not a Robot
Victoria Warmerdam and Trent

VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune: Part Two
Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, and Gerd Nefzer

SOUND
Dune: Part Two
Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett, and Doug Hemphill

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
No Other Land
An Antipode Films Production
Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, and Yuval Abraham

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
The Only Girl in the Orchestra
Molly O’Brien and Lisa Remington

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez
Music by Clément Ducol and Camille
Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Wicked
Production Design: Nathan Crowley
Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez

FILM EDITING
Anora
Sean Baker

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
The Substance
Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, and Marilyne Scarselli

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
Conclave
Screenplay by Peter Straughan

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
Anora
Written by Sean Baker

COSTUME DESIGN
Wicked
Paul Tazewell

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
In the Shadow of the Cypress
Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Flow
Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens, and Gregory Zalcman

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain

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2024 Cannes Film Festival: Sean Baker’s “Anora” Picks Up Palme d’Or

Fernando A — Tue, 28 May 2024 06:16:00 +0000

The Cannes Film Festival returned to the French Riviera this May and gave us many new films worth waiting for. Sean Baker’s Anora was one of them, and it managed to walk away with the festival’s most prestigious prize, the coveted Palme d’Or.

Anora chronicles the whirlwind romance between an exotic New York dancer and the immature son of a Russian oligarch. Shortly after meeting, they decide to elope in Las Vegas, but this decision doesn’t sit well with his parents, who quickly fly to New York to ensure they’ll get an annulment.

Sean Baker accepted the Palme d’Or for Anora, describing this victory as his “singular goal as a filmmaker for the past 30 years.” His acceptance speech was a love letter to movie theatres, and he used it to stress the importance of making feature films for theatrical release.

“I do know that I will continue to fight for cinema because right now as filmmakers, we have to fight to keep cinema alive… We share laughter, sorrow, anger, fear and hopefully have a catharsis with our friends and strangers – and that’s sacred,” said Baker in his speech.

Anora is the first American film to win the Palme d’Or in over a decade, and it marks Neon’s fifth consecutive victory, following the success of Parasite, Titane, Triangle of Sadness, and Anatomy of a Fall.

FULL LIST OF WINNERS AT THE 2024 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL:

Palme d’Or
Anora, dir: Sean Baker

Grand Prize
All We Imagine as Light, dir: Payal Kapadia

Jury Prize
Emilia Perez, dir: Jacques Audiard

Best Director
Miguel Gomes, Grand Tour

Special Prize
Mohammad Rasoulof, The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Best Actor
Jesse Plemons, Kinds of Kindness

Best Actress
Emilia Perez ensemble: Adriana Paz, Zoe Saldana, Karla Sofia Gascon, Selena Gomez

Best Screenplay
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat

Camera d’Or
Armand, dir: Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel

Special Mention
Mongrel, dir: Chiang Wei Liang

Short Film Palme d’Or
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, dir: Nebojsa Slijepcevic

Special Mention
Bad For a Moment, dir: Daniel Soares

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