Oscars 2025: Anora, Sean Baker’s $6M Indie, Triumphs With Five Major Wins Including Best Picture And Director

Oscars 2025: Sean Baker’s 'Anora' emerged as the big winner at the 97th Academy Awards, securing five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress.

Oscars 2025: Sean Baker’s 'Anora' emerged as the big winner at the 97th Academy Awards, securing five Oscars.

Source : IMDb

Oscars 2025: Sean Baker’s 'Anora' emerged as the big winner at the 97th Academy Awards, securing five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress. The film, which follows the story of a sex worker who marries the spoiled son of a Russian oligarch, made waves with its strong showing, further solidifying Baker’s reputation as a champion of independent cinema. 

Sean Baker's acceptance speech

Baker, who won four awards for producing, directing, editing and original screenplay, took the stage to deliver a passionate speech advocating for movie theaters. "We’re all here tonight and watching this broadcast because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater," he declared. Urging distributors to prioritise theatrical releases, he added, "If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry." 

Anora's shoe-string budget

Sean Baker’s Anora, a film crafted on a modest $6 million budget, grossed nearly seven times its production cost during its theatrical run. It still remains one of the lowest-grossing Best Picture winners in history, earning around $40 million globally. However, its success marks another triumph for indie distributor Neon, which previously guided 'Parasite' to an Oscar win in 2020. 

The film, which first made waves by clinching the prestigious Palme d’Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, continued its triumphant journey through the awards season. It secured major wins at the Critics Choice Movie Awards, the Directors Guild of America Awards, and the Writers Guild of America. 

Other winners

In the acting categories, Adrien Brody and Mikey Madison took top honours. Brody, who previously won for 'The Pianist,' was awarded Best Actor for his role as a troubled architect in 'The Brutalist.' Madison, meanwhile, delivered an emotional speech after winning Best Actress for her performance as an exotic dancer in 'Anora.'  

The night also saw victories for Kieran Culkin, who won Best Supporting Actor for 'A Real Pain,' and Zoe Saldana, who took home Best Supporting Actress for 'Emilia Pérez.' Saldana, visibly moved, proclaimed, "I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last." 

Other notable wins included 'I’m Still Here,' which became Brazil’s first Oscar-winning film in the Best International Feature category, and 'Flow,' a Latvian fantasy adventure, which triumphed in Best Animated Feature. The documentary category saw 'No Other Land' win despite its struggles to find distribution. 

Hosting the ceremony for the first time, Conan O’Brien entertained the audience with his signature humour, taking jabs at the early start time and even referencing 'Emilia Pérez' star Karla Sofia Gascón’s social media controversy. 

The event also paid tribute to the James Bond franchise following Amazon MGM’s recent acquisition of creative control and honoured firefighters who battled the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.