‘I See Anora’: How the Oscars Almost Got Their Groove Back

It was a fairytale story for “Anora,” as it won five Oscars, including Best Actress for Mikey Madison and Best Picture. Sean Baker also won for Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Director, becoming the first individual to achieve four in one night for one movie. As I pointed out in the Sun on Saturday, “Anora,” ahead of Oscar night, had won three of the four union guilds, an indicator which is the best way to predict Best Picture. The film’s triumph is a rallying cry for the struggling purveyors of so-called “independent films” – low budget, artsy movies, often done on spec, and not backed by a major studio. Their auteurs, including Mr. Baker and “The Brutalist” director Brady Corbet, say they are constantly struggling, financially, as indie filmmakers, even if they’re at the top of the “indie” heap. Mr Baker’s statements at various awards ceremonies this season, especially at the Independent Spirit Awards, were defiant as well as joyful. Because while indie films dominated the slate of best picture nominees (“Dune Part Two” was the only big budget studio picture on the list), they are not the kind of films that attract mainstream moviegoers. And their success at the Academy Awards and other ceremonies obscures that things are getting steadily worse, not better, for indie filmmakers. “Indie film is struggling right now more than ever,” Mr. Baker had said at the Independent Spirit Awards, where “Anora” won best feature. “The system has to change, because this is simply unsustainable. Let’s not undervalue ourselves any longer.” “Anora” is one of the lowest-grossing films to win the Oscar for best picture. The runner up, “The Brutalist”, a three and half hour epic, boasts similarly dismal receipts. Nevertheless, Adrien Brody won his second Oscar last night for Best Actor in this film about the uncertainty of Judaism in American life, especially as the state of Israel was being founded. By many measures, “The Brutalist” is a tiny art film, but the Academy’s preference, in recent years, for elevating these films to dominate the Oscar nominations gives the indie filmmakers an enormous platform. (L-R) Adrien Brody, winner of the Best Actor award for ‘The Brutalist’, Mikey Madison, winner of the Best Actress award for ‘Anora’, Zoe Saldana winner of the Best Actress in a Supporting Role award for ‘Emilia Pérez’ and Kieran Culkin winner of the Best Actor in a Supporting Role for ‘A Real Pain’, pose in the press room during the 97th Annual Oscars at Ovation Hollywood on March 02, 2025 at Hollywood, California. Maya Dehlin Spach/Getty ImagesMr. Brody, who previously won Best Actor in 2003 for “The Pianist,” a film in which a Polish Jew survives the sacking of the Warsaw Ghetto by the Nazis, took full advantage in his acceptance speech on Sunday evening to link the significance of these films together. “I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war, and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and of othering,” he said. “I believe that I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world, and I believe if the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked.”Mr. Brody’s use of polarizing words such as “othering” and “inclusion” were a subtle expression of anti-Trump sentiment, which runs thicker than blood in Hollywood. In recent years the Academy has sought aggressively (if behind the scenes) to crack down on liberal activism from the stage. And while indie filmmakers are known to find any soapbox they can to air their typically far left views, last night they kept their political extemporization at a low volume.Donald Trump was not mentioned by name (even if one of the Best Actor contenders, Sebastian Stan, was nominated for his portrayal of Mr. Trump, and his co-star, Jeremy Strong, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for playing Roy Cohn, in the anti-Trump film “The Apprentice”), but politics weren’t absent from the stage. Ms. Madison, who, in a surprise, won Best Actress, used her acceptance speech (as did Sean Baker) to advocate for prostitutes and strippers (they used the euphemistic epithet “sex workers”). (L-R) Mikey Madison and Alex Coco, winners of Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Picture for ‘Anora,’ attend the 97th Annual Oscars Governors Ball at Ovation Hollywood Complex on March 02, 2025 at Hollywood, California. Monica Schipper/Getty ImagesMr. Trump, while not mentioned by name, was present at the Oscars via subtle allusions from various independent filmmakers in addition to Mr. Brody. “Splash” icon Daryl Hannah shouted “Slava Ukraini, likely referring to the Oval Office drubbing Volodymyr Zelensky received on Friday. The anti-Israel documentary “No Other Land,” which won Best Documentary Feature, unsurprisingly produced the ceremony’s most incendiary speech. The remarks, reminiscent of Jonathan Glazer’s anti-Israel comments last year when he won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film for “The Zone of Interest,” were steeped in hostility to Israel and embedded with false moral equivalence. The activist Basel Adra called for “the end of the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.” Conan O’Brien, whose long career working for major media conglomerates gives him a very different perspective than that of the indie filmmakers, largely kept to his promise to stay away from politics. He struck a serious note when he brought up the Los Angeles wildfires, which affected many of the Academy members in the audience, but he steered clear of mentioning anything beyond the need to heal from the suffering. Last night, Mr. O’Brien demonstrated why he’s one of the most likable comedians in the business. Many of his jokes land. He got a great laugh by mentioning Karla Sofia Gascon’s bad tweets that derailed the “Emilia Perez” Oscar campaign. Adam Sandler (who’s never won an Oscar) appeared in a hoodie to heckle Mr O’Brien, who also brought onto the stage firefighters who battled the LA fires. The first one said, “Our hearts go out to all of those who have lost their homes … and I’m talking about the producers of “Joker 2.”While there were, strangely, no performances tied to the announcement of Best Original Song, it was nice to see Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande introduce “Wicked” film, by singing the musical’s most famous song, “Defying Gravity”. There was also a segment dedicated to the late music producer Quincy Jones, with Queen Latifah performing several songs of his film, “The Wiz,” a precursor film to “Wicked.” There was also a tribute to James Bond, weeks after the Broccoli family, longtime stewards of the brand, announced they were giving up creative control to Amazon (Mr. O’Brien joked that the next Bond will be played by an ordinary-looking, mock Amazon executive).‘Anora’ swept the Oscars. NeonMeanwhile, the In Memoriam segment was pretty moving, if not gloomy. It began with Morgan Freeman, dedicating it to the late Gene Hackman and the segment was set to Mozart’s Lacrimosa Requiem. As usual, the segment irritated some viewers whose favorite dead stars were not recognized. There was no mention of Michelle Trachtenberg, who while primarily a TV star had an iconic film role in “Harriet the Spy.” Also ignored was Alain Delon, the French screen god. And now we wait for the ratings. While the Oscars audience has increased in recent years from their peri-pandemic nadir of 2021 (only 10.5 million viewers), the telecast and, by extension, the institution, has declined in relevance dramatically over the last two decades. The awards show, which once rivaled the Super Bowl as an event, is in increasing danger of irrelevance. One of the biggest issues? The indie films. When all but one of the nominees (“Dune Part Two”) were seen by barely anyone, it’s hard for a typical viewer to get excited, tune in and root for their favorite film. How do you reinvigorate the Oscars? The answer may be first to reinvigorate the culture of moviegoing – so that more people actually see the nominated films. Moviegoing is under attack on multiple fonts. First, theaters are clogged with bloated franchise films that would never be considered for an Oscar. And the move to streaming has led to smaller films being dumped on streaming services without a meaningful theatrical run. And yes, it would help if the Oscars recognized films that people actually saw, in theaters. Mr. O’Brien had a pretty funny skit which posited that movie theaters are now the new streaming services. Perhaps we should encourage more creativity, by going back to the movies, big and small.

‘I See Anora’: How the Oscars Almost Got Their Groove Back

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