Hollywood’s producers and directors voted “Anora” the year’s greatest movie on Saturday, solidifying its position as the movie to beat at the next Oscar Academy Awards.
A day after winning the top US Critics’ Prize, Sean Baker’s black comedy, which tells the story of an exotic dancer’s whirlwind romance gone bad, won the coveted Directors Guild of America and Producers Guild of America top prizes.
As he won his prize at a glamorous Beverly Hills DGA dinner, 53-year-old independent filmmaker Baker, who was once best known in arthouse circles for his sympathetic depictions of life in US subcultures, said, “My imposter syndrome is skyrocketing right now!”
“It was nearly impossible to pull off a $6 million film shot on film in New York City in 2023,” Baker said, thanking his producers.
While “Anora” took home the Palme d’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, in May, it has recently trailed behind “Emilia Perez” and other films in terms of Oscar nominations.
“Anora” is a resurgent favourite for the Academy Awards, which will be held on March 2, after winning best picture at the Critics Choice Awards on Friday in addition to its coup on Saturday.
Christopher Nolan, the DGA winner from the previous year, presented Baker with his prize. Baker quipped that he felt like he was “actually doing work” for “the first time” while running for office in Hollywood’s endless awards season.
“I’ve been able to play, and I feel like the luckiest guy in the world, being able to do the thing I’ve wanted to do since I was five years old,” Baker stated.
In addition, he thanked his mother for helping him pursue his career. However, the filmmaker, whose films mostly deal with the sex industry and pornography, acknowledged that he was relieved she had not seen his most recent, more gruesome endeavour.
Nineteen out of the twenty-one DGA winners in the past have also won the Oscar for best director in the same year, including the two most recent wins, “Oppenheimer” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
The Oscar Best Picture nominee “Nickel Boys,” directed by RaMell Ross, was awarded the DGA prize for best film from a first-time filmmaker.
Ross, who made a film on the mistreatment of young boys in a Florida reform school in the 1960s that was filmed as though from the characters’ perspectives, claimed that it was too “rare” to see the black gaze portrayed in Hollywood motion pictures.
Across town in Los Angeles, “Anora” took home the PGA top prize on Saturday.
