Sean Baker wins the Palme d’Or for his film Anora at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. A plunge into the sulphurous world of paid sex and oligarchs, with a revelation: actress Mickey Madison.
On Saturday, May 25, the 77th Cannes Film Festival awarded the Palme d’Or to Anora by American director Sean Baker. A surprise for festival-goers, much to the satisfaction of some critics, signed by the unpredictable president of the jury and director of the film Barbie, Greta Gerwig. The award was presented by George Lucas, the director behind the Star Wars saga.
The film succeeds “Anatomie d’une Chute” by Justine Triet, which won the award last year.
The United States had not won the supreme award since Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life in 2011.
A modern-day Cinderella
The story of Anora, a social comedy conceived as a thriller, follows the adventures of a sex worker – a kind of escort girl from New York’s Brooklyn district, played by American actress Mickey Madison.
During a drunken evening in a nightclub, the young Russian-speaking American meets her Prince Charming in Vanya, the son of a Russian oligarch. After renting his services, the young man’s passion begins to burn brightly, and an impromptu wedding is arranged in Las Vegas.
An Orthodox priest, close to the young man, disavows the union and informs his wealthy family of the situation. Furious, the parents rush to New York, determined to have the marriage annulled. The film becomes a comedy of the absurd, reminiscent of Martin Scorsese’s After Hours (1995).
Alternating between slums and ultra-luxury villas, the film is nonetheless luminous, with its protagonists fundamentally human.
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Featured Photo: © Cannes Festival
