Baker’s film Anora landed a total of six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for rising star Mikey Madison.
The Best Supporting Actor for Yura Borislov made him the first Russian actor to be nominated in almost 50 years.
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Madison called the nominations, “Exciting, overwhelming, beautiful,” and said her plan was to order some pancakes at her New York hotel “and just kind of soak it up and digest it. It’s really just a total dream come true.”
Fortunately, she and her family have not lost their homes in the tragic events. “There have been close calls for both me and my parents and my brother and my sister as well,” she said. “I’m so very grateful that we’re all OK and we’re all back home just feeling a lot of gratitude to be in our own homes, but there’s so much devastation, just a handful of miles away from where we are. I’m constantly reminded of that, so it’s a really, really sad time for Los Angeles.”
In Russia, Borisov jumped on Zoom, flanked by his two young daughters. He said the nomination news was celebrated in his house. “We were all together with my daughters and wife and my nomination was first, and my name was first.
After they said my name, my wife started screaming and crying. And then because of this, I [didn’t hear] everything after that. She cried and screamed for one hour. But my phone is crazy. It’s like every minute someone is calling and writing, and everybody is very happy about this. I’m trying to not lose reality.”
The director managed to sleep through the entire announcement, waking to the Oscar news after a long night of editing duties on Left-Handed Girl, the solo debut of Shih-Ching Tsou, who co-directed Baker’s 2004 film Take Out.
Describing the project as “a family drama that takes place in the Taipei night markets,” it had been hard to finish the film in the middle of such hectic promotional schedule. “It’s been really hard to edit because of the campaign, I’ve only been able to put in five hours a night. But we’re getting close. I’m trying to wrap it up.”
After Baker’s win in Cannes last year, where Anora earned the Palme d’Or, Left-Handed Girl may see Baker-who also co-wrote and produced the film-return to the Croisette in May. “I really am proud of Shih-Ching,” he enthused. “She did it on her own, meaning I wasn’t on production. It’s been really interesting to edit something I wasn’t a part of making-except for the writing, obviously. But you’ll see DNA from our other collaborations in there. So, yeah, it’s coming together. It’s almost there.”
Asked what caused the support for Anora with Oscar voters, Baker had his own theory. “I think people like the fact that, for whatever reason, this little indie is making people excited. I think it’s a combination of things; it’s truly an indie that didn’t follow the rules, in terms of subject matter, or casting, or structure. Maybe people are connecting with that; maybe they feel it’s something fresh, or a return to films that we used to see in theaters. I think there might be a little bit of that in there.”
