Anora, a film by American producer Sean Baker, depicts a dark yet funny and exotic relationship between a Russian oligarch’s son and a New York dancer. The movie received decent recognition upon release while getting high ratings of 97% from Rotten Tomatoes and has now won the top prize at Cannes. At the 77th Cannes Film Festival held on Saturday, Anora collected a prestigious award called the Palme d’Or.
Anora won the festival’s top prize, competing against 21 other movies. The list also includes movies produced by well-known directors, such as Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis and David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future.
While nominating Anora for the Plame award, the jury president at Cannes, Greta Gerwig, said the film is an “incredibly human and humane film that captured our hearts.” Baker received the award from established filmmaker and philanthropist Geroge Lucas, who rose to fame for creating Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Anora Becomes First American Movie To Win Palme d’Or Since 2011
The 2024 festival saw the first American indie filmmaker securing a Palme d’Or after Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life won the same prize in 2011. With the recent release of Anora, Baker continues to expand the streak of sex worker-focused movies. Previously, he produced Red Rocket starring Simon Rex as Mikey Saber, a washed-up retired pornstar. It also became a Cannes entry after its release in 2021.
Baker also earned fame through its sex worker-focused “Tangerine” movie, which he shot using iPhones and released in 2015. The Florida Project, one of Baker’s other huge hits, also accumulated a significant rating from Rotten Tomatoes of 96% after its release in 2017. Later on, the movie also got nominated for the Oscars.
Starring Mikey Madison as Anora’s title character, the story portrays the life of a New York stripper who gets more than she demands for marrying the rich oligarch’s son. The film’s premise continues with a week’s agreement between Anora and Ivan, son of the oligarch. But, their contract turns into a strong bond between the two deciding to elope. After receiving the news of his son’s nuptials, the oligarch gets into it to force them for the annulment. What would be a fairytale love story, Anoura’s life now revolves around hiding from the oligarch’s goons.
While accepting his award at the podium, Baker sheds light on the experience of his movie hitting theatres. In his words,
Watching a film with others in a movie theater is one of the great communal experiences. We share laughter, sorrow, anger, fear and hopefully have a catharsis with our friends and strangers. So I say the future of cinema is where it started: in a movie theater.
Anora’s Success Surprised Many
Though Anora won the jury’s choice to be a Palm d’Or frontrunner, many expected ‘The Seed of Sacred Figs’ by Iranian filmmaker and Indian drama ‘All We Imagine As Light’ to win the top prize. However, both films also took prizes home, with the Iranian film collecting the Fipresci award.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival was held between 14th and 25th May. American filmmaker Greta Gerwig participated as jury president for the major competition. Camille Cottin served as the host for this year’s opening and ending ceremonies of the festival.
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