Sean Baker is scrappy. For years, the writer-director has been making independent films about marginalized groups, from undocumented immigrants to sex workers. He casts his own movies, working with friends and talent he finds on social media.

As a writer and director, Baker has dedicated much of his career to elucidating the subtleties of figures like Ani who are often relegated to the background. He’s allowed us to peer inside the fictional lives of trans sex workers on Hollywood Boulevard in his 2015 breakout “ Tangerine ,

Sean Baker's “Anora” is by wide consensus one of the year’s best films and a best picture contender at the Oscars

Yura Borisov is Baker's hidden weapon. He plays the quiet Russian who falls for Anora, and he tells IndieWire about his path to the role — and what else he helped shape in the Palme d’Or winner.

The filmmaker and star discussed Neon's Cannes winner before sold-out London Film Fest screenings, with Baker sharing how he "got gold" with guerrilla-style filming and how he likes to treat "characters as individuals.

"Anora" has been the talk of the film world for months and it's finally landing in theaters. The film follows a sex worker who falls in love with the son of a Russian oligarch whose father shows up and tries to get the two to break up.

Starring an inspired Mikey Madison, who dominates in the role of a stripper who falls for the wrong guy, Sean Baker's high-energy comedy comes with a side of sadness.

That ends this weekend, when Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner Anora opens in New York and Los Angeles. To commemorate the occasion, here are 10 questions — one for each of GoldDerby’s top 10 Best Picture contenders — that remain unanswered in this “phony war” period of the 2025 Oscar season.