Oscars 2025: Sean Baker Wins Best Director For Anora As He Continues His Winning Streak; Pleads 'Make Movies For Big Screens'

Sean Baker won Best Director for Anora at the 2025 Oscars. In his acceptance speech, he urged support for struggling movie theaters and emphasized the importance of the theatrical experience.

Written by Seema Sinha , Entertainment Journalist

Updated on Mar 03, 2025 | 12:31 PM IST | 16K

Sean Baker at the 2025 Academy Awards (Getty Images)

Sean Baker won the 2025 Academy Award for Best Director for Anora, besting Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), James Mangold (A Complete Unknown), Jacques Audiard (Emilia Perez), and Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) to claim the prestigious honor.

While a previous Baker film, The Florida Project, earned an Oscar nomination for Willem Dafoe’s performance, Anora marks the first time Baker himself has received recognition from the Academy. The film in discussion went into the night with six nominations in total, including the Best Picture nod.

Baker’s Oscar win comes on the heels of a Directors Guild of America Award and Independent Spirit Awards for Best Director and Best Feature.

For those unversed, Anora follows the story of sex worker Ani, played by Mikey Madison, and her hectic quest with a Russian heir, portrayed by Mark Eydelshteyn, who promises marriage and riches only to bring chaos into her life.

Receiving his Best Director trophy from Quentin Tarantino, Baker said, “We are all here tonight and watching this broadcast because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with the movies? At the movie theater. Watching a film in the theater with an audience is an experience. In a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever. It’s a communal experience you simply don’t get at home. Right now, the theatergoing experience is under threat. Movie theaters, especially independently owned theaters, are struggling. It’s up to us to support them.”

Baker continued, “During the pandemic, we lost nearly 1,000 screens in the U.S., and we continue to lose them regularly.” He pleaded, “If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is our battle cry. Filmmakers, keep making films for the big screen. I know I will.”

Baker urged distributors to prioritize theatrical releases of films and encouraged parents to continue introducing the next generation to feature films in movie theaters.