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Sean Baker’s film Anora landed a total of six Oscar nominations Thursday morning. Among them, Best Picture, Best Actress for rising star Mikey Madison, and Best Supporting Actor for Yura Borislov, making him the first Russian actor to be nominated in almost 50 years.
Speaking to Deadline after the nominations announcement, Madison called the nominations, “Exciting, overwhelming, beautiful,” and said her plan was to order some pancakes at her New York hotel “and just kind of soak it up and digest it. It’s really just a total dream come true.”
However, her mind was very much on her native Los Angeles too. “I’m a true Angeleno,” she said, “and so the past couple weeks, my heart has been completely broken for Los Angeles. The community coming together celebrating film in such a beautiful way is really wonderful, and I’m really grateful for that and to be a part of that community.”
Fortunately, she and her family have not lost their homes in the tragic events. “There have been a handful of close calls for both me and my parents and my brother and my sister as well,” she said. “I’m so very grateful that we’re all OK and we’re all back home just feeling a lot of gratitude to be in our own homes, but there’s so much devastation, just a handful of miles away from where we are. I’m constantly reminded of that, so it’s a really, really sad time for Los Angeles.”
Over in Russia, Borisov jumped on Zoom with Deadline, flanked by his two young daughters. He said the nomination news had been loudly celebrated in his house. “We were all together with my daughters and my wife and my nomination was first and my name was first. And after they said my name, [my wife] started screaming and crying. And then because of this, I [didn’t hear] everything after that. She cried and screamed for one hour. But my phone is crazy. It’s like every minute someone is calling and writing, and everybody is very happy about this. I’m trying to not lose realty.”
Borisov is the first Oscar nominated Russian actor since Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1977 for The Turning Point, and Borisov called this “a situation without words. It’s a time to look to each other.”
The director, meanwhile, managed to sleep through the entire announcement, waking to the Oscar news after a long night of editing duties on Left-Handed Girl, the solo debut of Shih-Ching Tsou, who co-directed Baker’s 2004 film Take Out. Describing the project as “a family drama that takes place in the Taipei night markets”, Baker acknowledged that it had been hard to finish the film in the middle of such a hectic promotional schedule. “It’s been really hard to edit because of the campaign,” he said. “I’ve only been able to put in five hours a night. But we’re getting close. I’m trying to wrap it up.”
After Baker’s win in Cannes last year, where Anora took the Palme d’Or, Left-Handed Girl may well see Baker—who also co-wrote and produced the film—return to the Croisette in May. “I really am proud of [Shih-Ching],” he enthused. “She did it on her own, meaning I wasn’t on production. It’s been really interesting to edit something I wasn’t a part of making—except for the writing, obviously. But you’ll see DNA from our other collaborations in there. So, yeah, it’s coming together. It’s almost there.”
At the same time, Baker is furthering his links with high-end home entertainment specialists Criterion. “Anora going into The Criterion Collection,” he said. “We have a really packed, beautiful release that’s full of extras, with a beautiful essay book and new art.” Before that, his 2008 film Prince of Broadway will get a release in April, plus another film from his back catalogue, as yet unconfirmed, to follow later in the year. All of which makes a new Sean Baker film unlikely to start shooting any time soon. “I’ve got to get all of this great stuff put to bed,” he said, “and then we’ll get on the road in late March, or early April, and figure out the new one.”
Asked what caused the groundswell of support for Anora with Oscar voters, Baker had his own theory. “I think people like the fact that, for whatever reason, this little indie is making people excited,” he said. “I think it’s a combination of things; it’s truly an indie that didn’t follow the rules, in terms of subject matter, or casting, or even structure. Maybe people are connecting with that; maybe they feel it’s something fresh, or a return to films that we used to see in theaters. I think there might be a little bit of that in there.”
