Director(s): Sean Baker

Rating & Run Time: (R) 2 hours and 19 minutes

Release Year: 2024

In a historic sweep of the Oscars, Sean Baker personally took home four of the night’s big prizes (a feat previously only accomplished by Walt Disney) for Best Original Screenplay, Best Directing, Best Editing, and Best Picture, and the Anora winner’s circle was joined by Mikey Madison (Best Actress) for her titular role in the film. The story of an exotic dancer in New York City who finds herself entangled in the menacing inner circle of a Russian oligarch, (by way of his son, her newlywed husband). Baker’s treatment of the material is empathetic, hilarious, energetic, and heartwarming, all while maintaining a razor sharp edge of tension, violence, and drama. Highly lauded and well-deserved, Baker’s place as a powerhouse of American indie cinema has been firmly and rightfully established.