Anora

Sean Baker wrote it, directed it, produced it and cut it himself. At the 97th Academy Awards he personally collected four Oscars: Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Film Editing. Mikey Madison won Actress in a Leading Role; Yura Borisov was nominated for Supporting Actor and lost to Kieran Culkin. Six nominations, five wins. The Palme d’Or came from the Cannes jury under Greta Gerwig. The budget was six million dollars and the shoot ran 37 days, ten of them on one sequence, the invasion of the mansion. That is why its centre of gravity sits there, not in the courtship. Because Baker cut it himself, the turn from romantic comedy to farce is never announced; it dissolves inside the same run of scenes. Drew Daniels shot it on Kodak 35mm with vintage LOMO anamorphic glass. Madison was cast without auditioning, on two earlier performances Baker had seen, and prepared by learning Russian and a Brooklyn accent. Andrea Werhun, author of the memoir Modern Whore, was a creative consultant, and sex workers were hired as advisers and cast. A good fit if you accept the raid turning into near real time chaos, with the comedy coming out of that. Not for anyone who wants the Cinderella line held to the end; the film cuts off the fairy tale it promised.