The sex worker dramedy “Anora” dominated the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday night, winning best picture as well as several other top awards.
Sean Baker, the force behind “Anora,” won Oscars for directing as well as his original screenplay and editing.
“I want to thank the sex worker community,” he said when accepting the screenwriting award. “My deepest respect. I share this with you.” Later, he dedicated his directing Oscar to his mother.
(Chris Pizzello | AP) Sean Baker accepts the award for best director for “Anora" during the Oscars on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Mikey Madison, 25, won best actress for playing the film’s title role.
“This,” she said, “is a dream come true.”
“The Brutalist,” an immigrant epic, received three Oscars. Adrien Brody won best actor for his performance as a Holocaust survivor in the film, which was also honored for its cinematography and score. It was Brody’s second Oscar, having won in 2003 for playing a Holocaust survivor in “The Pianist.”
“I pray for a happier and healthier and more inclusive world,” Brody said in his acceptance speech, as he pushed past an attempt by the orchestra to play him offstage. “If the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked.”
Wicked” won two Oscars (production design and costume design), as did the Netflix musical “Emilia Pérez” (song and supporting actress). “Dune: Part Two” also collected a pair (sound and visual effects).
Other awards went to “Conclave,” a winner for adapted screenplay. Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor for his performance in “A Real Pain,” about mismatched cousins on a trip to Poland. Zoe Saldaña won the supporting actress Oscar for her performance in “Emilia Pérez,”
“Flow,” an independent Latvian movie about a courageous cat, beat “The Wild Robot” and “Inside Out 2″ to win the Oscar for best animated film.
The ceremony began with a tribute to Hollywood’s home city of Los Angeles, parts of which were recently ravaged by wildfires, and Ariana Grande singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” That keep-the-faith “Wizard of Oz” standard gave way to a rousing rendition of “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked,” with Grande joined by her co-star Cynthia Erivo.
No Other Land,” about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, won best documentary.
“We call on the world to take some action to stop the unjustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people,” Basel Andra, one of the film’s directors, said from the stage, introducing a strong dose of politics into a ceremony that had mostly avoided the topic.
“The Only Girl in the Orchestra” won best documentary short.
(Philip Cheung | The New York Times) Conan O’Brien onstage while hosting the 97th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 2, 2025.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
