The Oscar for best picture used to be quite easy to predict; simply pick the based-on-a-true-story, long drama film, and you were almost guaranteed to make the right choice.
However, over the last few years, the Academy has been a lot more open to different kinds of films. The first foreign film to win was Parasite (2019), and the quirky multiverse comedy Everything, Everywhere, All At Once won in 2022.
But let’s be clear, the Academy are not immune to picking the big-budget, obvious choice as last year the biographical epic Oppenheimer swept the ceremony. My prediction for this year’s best picture winner was The Brutalist, the three and a half hour long take down of the American dream and the immigrant experience was (I thought) guaranteed the win. However, this year, the low-budget comedy tragedy about sex workers, Anora, won in nearly every category it was nominated for.
It’s not a complete surprise that Anora took home the award, as director Sean Baker has become somewhat of a Hollywood favourite in recent years. Most of his films have received critical praise, and they usually pick up a couple of awards at the big film festivals as well as this. The ‘film bro’ in your life probably has Tangerine or The Florida Project in their top 10. If the Oscars wanted to completely surprise us, they could have given the award to The Substance, as the Academy has a weird dislike for horror films with only one horror (Silence of the Lambs) ever winning Best Picture.
So why is it so important that Anora won? (apart from it being a fantastic film) Simply put – its budget. Anora had a tiny budget of six million; in comparison, The Brutalist had nearly double and fellow nominee Conclave had a budget of 20 million.
The highest-grossing, big-budget films these days are all part of a franchise or sequels to a popular film that came out 30 years ago. Going up against these big films is nearly financially impossible for films like Anora. That’s why it’s important we recognise and celebrate independent filmmaking as they often have the most important and incredible stories to tell.
Everyone always talks about how fed up they are of sequels, prequels, and remakes. Well, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. Go watch Anora, or better yet, go to the cinema and go watch the next Anora.
Feature Image Credit: NEON
