Sean Baker Makes Oscars History With Four Wins for One Movie With ‘Anora’
“Anora” director Sean Baker has become the first person to win four Oscars in the same year for the same film.
During Sunday’s ceremony, Baker won Oscars for original screenplay, film editing, directing and best picture. With those, Baker ties another famous filmmaker: Walt Disney. But while Disney won four Oscars in the same night in 1953, it was for four different films (“The Living Desert,” “The Alaskan Eskimo,” “Bear Country” and “Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom”). Disney was also nominated that year for “Ben and Me” and “Rugged Bear.”
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When Baker accepted the award for best director, he thanked the Academy for recognizing an independent film in “Anora.” “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,” Baker said. He also took the opportunity to shoutout Quentin Tarantino, the category presenter, for casting Mikey Madison in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which led Baker to cast her in “Anora.”
It’s highly unusual for a film’s director to win an editing Oscar, but not without precedent. In addition to his directing award, Alfonso Cuarón won an editing Oscar alongside editor Mark Sanger for his 2013 film “Gravity;” while in addition to best picture and director, James Cameron was one of three who earned an editing Oscar for his 1997 epic “Titanic.”
Director Bong Joon Ho came close to Baker’s record in 2020 with “Parasite,” which won Oscars for best picture, director, original screenplay and international film. But since the Oscar for international film technically goes to the country, not the filmmaker, Bong won three Oscars instead of four, with one award going to South Korea.
“Anora” has cleaned up throughout the season, coming into the Oscars with wins at the Producers Guild Awards, Directors Guild Awards and Writers Guild Awards for original screenplay. In addition to Baker’s wins, Madison won for best actress and Yura Borisov was nominated for best supporting actor.
This isn’t the first Baker film to make its way to the Oscars, as Willem Dafoe was nominated for his supporting role in “The Florida Project.” However, “Anora” marked the first time that Baker himself was nominated for his work as a writer or director.
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