Sean Baker’s ‘Anora’ sweeps the Oscars, winning Best Picture, Directing and Writing awards

Sean Baker’s Anora swept the Oscars on Sunday, winning five awards, including for Best Picture and Directing. Baker’s acclaimed tragicomedy about a stripper’s disastrous entanglement with the dissolute son of a Russian billionaire triumphed in five out of the six categories in which it was nominated.

Anora trumped Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, about a Hungarian architect and Holocaust survivor who struggles to find work and meaning after emigrating to America. Corbet’s ambitious epic won its lead actor Adrien Brody the Actor in a Leading Role award. Brody had previously won the same award for The Pianist (2002).

The Brutalist also win Oscars for music and cinematography.

Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez, which had the highest number of nominations – 13 in all – won only two, for Zoe Saldana as Actress in a Supporting Role and Original Song. The film’s campaign was derailed after lead actress Karla Sofia Gascon was found to have made Islamophobic and racist tweets in the past.

While Gascon was present at the ceremony, which was hosted by Conan O’Brien, she didn’t walk the red carpet.

Edward Berger’s Conclave, about a fictional election to elect a new Pope at the Vatican, won a single award, for Peter Straughn’s…

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