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By Sydney Crone
The Anora Sweep
If you hadn’t heard of Sean Baker’s 2024 film Anora before, you definitely have in the post-Oscars world. Anora absolutely swept, winning six Oscars spanning the categories of performance, editing, directing, and writing.
For acting, Mikey Madison won Best Actress for her phenomenal performance portraying the titular character, Anora “Ani” Mikheeva. Before this film, Mikey Madison was best known for her role as Amber Freeman in Scream (2022).
Sean Baker won Best Directing, his first-ever nomination in the category. Before Anora, Baker had made many films and short films, his most popular being The Florida Project (2017), which was also Oscar-nominated. Baker also won Best Film Editing and Best Writing (Original Screenplay).
And last but certainly not least, Anora won the most coveted award of the night: Best Picture. By winning this award, this film makes history both in its content and production; the story highlights taboo themes and underrepresented groups of people while the $6 million dollar budget pales in comparison to the $145 million for Wicked or the $190 million for Dune: Part Two.
The Anora sweep is a huge step forward for indie films. It shows that what makes a film a Best Picture is the artistry–the performances, the directing, the writing, the post-production. A film that speaks to people, tells untold stories, and evokes emotion, can oftentimes be leagues ahead than a big-budget blockbuster.
The AI Controversy
The 2025 Oscars made history in many ways, such as Latvia's first-ever win for Flow, (Best Animated Picture) or Paul Tazewell being the first Black man to ever win Best Costume Design for his work on Wicked. However, with these many positives came some negatives in the form of controversy.
A main point of contention that many viewers had was the use of AI in not one, but two different Best Picture Nominees: The Brutalist and Emilia Pérez. The Brutalist, which won three Oscars, used AI in two separate ways. Generative AI was used in the film to assist in the renderings of blueprints shown on screen. Many viewers found this extremely counterintuitive due to the plot of the film. They felt that a movie about an architect who finds comfort in his creations using AI to generate those creations showed disregard for the arts and the creative process. Voice-generating AI was also used to make Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones sound more Hungarian in the film through a program called Respeecher. Many thought that Adrien Brody did not deserve his award for Best Actor because of the use of AI to enhance his performance. Emilia Pérez used AI in a similar manner: voice-generating AI was used to enhance the performance of the main actress. In the film, the sound supervisor Cyril Holtz used AI to widen and improve the vocal range of Karla Sofía Gascon. Because this movie is a musical, many viewers were upset that it would use AI, arguing that its use takes away from actual talent and performers.
Other Winners
If you need a quick refresh, here are other winners of the night.
Actor in a Leading Role: Adrian Brody, The Brutalist
Actor in a Supporting Role: Keiran Culkin, A Real Pain
Actress in a Leading Role: Mikey Madison, Anora
Actress in a Supporting Role: Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Animated Feature Film: Flow
Animated Short Film: In The Shadow Of The Cypress
Best Picture: Anora
Cinematography: The Brutalist
Costume Design: Paul Tazewell, Wicked
Directing: Sean Baker, Anora
Music (Original Score): The Brutalist
Music (Original Song): “El Mal,” Emilia Pérez
Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Conclave
Writing (Original Screenplay): Anora
Overall, this was a very fun award show season, and with the movies set to come out in 2025, I’m sure next year will be just as exciting.
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