Anora Spirit Award Best director winner Sean Baker championed indie cinema in his acceptance speech, exclaiming that it’s “struggling more than ever” with little pay for those who provide a cultural zeithgeist for Hollywood and cinema.
Baker spoke about how it takes three years to make a feature, and that one needs to have such a huge box office hit to realize any great profit.
“If you’re a writer or director trying to break in right now, you’ll make a film for free,” Baker said, “take the DGA minimum and divide it by three.”
He also said that if he had kids, “I wouldn’t be able to make the movies I make….I’m an indie lifer!”
Of great importance to keeping it indie for Baker, is making a movie with complete creative freedom and casting whereby a studio isn’t greenlighting based on box office terms or social media followers.
“The system has to be changed, it’s completely unsustainable” said Baker in his acceptance speech, “we shouldn’t be barely getting by.”
The speech received a huge standing ovation.
Baker did give a pom pom to his Anora distributor NEON who “focused on a theatrical run first and foremost.”
Anora also won Best Performer for Mikey Madison and Best Feature at the Spirits.
Anora is Baker’s highest grossing movie of his canon with closes to $38M at the global box office. Anora, which won the Palme D’Or at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, is up for six Oscar noms. Baker has won the DGA and the film has won the PGA top prize to date.
