The 2025 Oscars have come to a detailed, and one of many greatest winners of the evening is Sean Baker, who took dwelling the award for Finest Director for his movie Anora.
Baker’s acceptance speech was greater than only a celebration of his personal achievement – it was a name to motion to guard the way forward for film theaters.
“We’re all right here tonight and watching this broadcast as a result of we love films,” Baker stated.
He added, “The place did we fall in love with the films? On the movie show… Watching a movie within the theatre with an viewers is an expertise. We are able to chortle collectively, cry collectively, and, in a time during which the world can really feel very divided, that is extra essential than ever.”
However Baker warned that this expertise is beneath risk. “It is a communal expertise you aren’t getting at dwelling. And proper now, the theater-going expertise is beneath risk,” he stated, including, “Film theaters, particularly independently-owned theaters, are struggling,” he stated.
“Through the pandemic, we misplaced 1,000 screens within the US, and we proceed to lose them usually. If we do not reverse this pattern, we’ll be shedding a significant a part of our tradition,” he stated.
Baker’s passionate plea was met with applause from the viewers, and his message resonated with many within the movie business.
As a self-proclaimed “indie movie lifer,” Baker is aware of firsthand the significance of unbiased film theaters in supporting new and revolutionary filmmakers.
Anora was a vital and industrial success, and its Oscar win was the fruits of a protracted and profitable awards marketing campaign.
The movie was nominated for six Oscars in complete, together with Finest Image, Finest Unique Screenplay, and Finest Actress for Mikey Madison.
Baker accepted his award, introduced by Quentin Tarantino, and he thanked his staff, together with his spouse Samantha Quan, who can also be a producer on the movie.
Sean Baker was additionally honoured for Finest Movie Modifying.
