Sean Baker: The King of Cannes The Overwhelming Moment Sean Baker calls taking the stage at the Cannes Film Festival in May to accept the Palme d'Or,
Sean Baker: The King of Cannes
The Overwhelming Moment
Sean Baker calls taking the stage at the Cannes Film Festival in May to accept the Palme d’Or, the festival’s highest honor, the "most overwhelming moment of my life."
A Singular Goal for 30 Years
Onstage, he told the crowd that winning the Palme had been his singular goal for the past 30 years. While most filmmakers would put an Academy Award on that pedestal, Baker has always been focused more on the world cinema stage than the Hollywood one.
"I consider it the end-all, be-all," he tells Little Gold Men. "You’re being recognized by your peers, by extremely renowned artists who have either been at Cannes or have had incredible work of theirs celebrated in the past. So then to be celebrated by them, it just means everything."
Anora, the Film that Won his Heart
Baker, whose films include Tangerine, The Florida Project, and Red Rocket, won the Palme for Anora, his dazzling film centered on a stripper and sex worker named Anora (she goes by Ani), who falls for the eccentric son of a Russian billionaire. They get married, but his family soon intervenes to pressure them to get their marriage annulled. The movie features a knockout performance by lead Mikey Madison, who is already garnering buzz in the lead-actress Oscar race.
A Unique Filmmaking Approach
On Anora, Baker was the writer, director, casting agent, and editor, and in an unorthodox practice, he waited months after filming to even begin the editing process. By taking on so much of the project himself, he created something that could only be a Sean Baker film. Baker’s most recent films have all received critical acclaim, but Anora and the Palme win have pushed him more directly into the awards spotlight. Still, he tells Little Gold Men, even if his projects get more ambitious or bigger in scope and budget, he’ll stick with his unique style of filmmaking (forged in independent cinema) no matter what.
The Key to Unlocking Mikey Madison
Sean Baker: I already had the beginning, middle, and end in my mind. Being an independent filmmaker, we are the ones who greenlight our film, so we don’t have to wait for others to greenlight. So we actually greenlit this project in our heads. We were moving forward with it and we knew we had to eventually find our Anora, and it just happened to be that we went out to see [2022’s] _Scream_ opening weekend, right around that time.
I had already been so intrigued by Mikey from her few minutes at the end of _Once Upon a Time in Hollywood_. I really thought she stole the end of the movie. And so when I saw _Scream_, those two performances showed me everything I needed. Some of it can’t even be articulated, quite honestly, maybe it’s just intuition, but I just knew there in the theater that she was our Ani, and I turned to my wife and producer, Samantha Quan, and I said, “The minute we step out of this theater, we’re calling her agent.
**Conclusion**
Sean Baker’s unique approach to filmmaking has paid off, and _Anora_ is just the latest example of his innovative storytelling style. With his sights set on the world cinema stage, Baker’s commitment to independent filmmaking is unwavering, even as his projects take on bigger and more ambitious scopes and budgets.
**FAQs**
* What is the Palme d’Or?
The Palme d’Or is the highest honor presented at the Cannes Film Festival.
* What is _Anora_ about?
_Anora_ is a film centered on a stripper and sex worker named Anora (she goes by Ani), who falls for the eccentric son of a Russian billionaire.
* What is Sean Baker’s directing style?
Sean Baker is known for his unique approach to filmmaking, which involves taking on multiple roles within a project, including writing, directing, casting, and editing.
* Has _Anora_ received critical acclaim?
Yes, _Anora_ has received critical acclaim, and its director, Sean Baker, has won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
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