“Anora,” a darkly funny and touching drama about a young exotic dancer who becomes involved with a Russian oligarch’s son, won the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, the Palme d’Or, on Saturday.
The film by U.S. director Sean Baker outshone 21 other films in the competition lineup, including entries by established directors such as Francis Ford Coppola and David Cronenberg.
“Anora” continues Baker’s streak of films focusing on sex workers, following the 2021 Cannes entry “Red Rocket” and 2017’s “The Florida Project” starring Willem Dafoe.
“This win is dedicated to all sex workers past, present, and future,” Baker said while accepting the award, also expressing gratitude to the film’s star, Mikey Madison, and his wife and producer.
Madison plays the titular character who meets Vanya, the immature son of a Russian oligarch with seemingly unlimited money, while working at a strip club. Vanya, played by Mark Eydelshteyn, hires Anora to be his girlfriend for a week and whimsically decides to take his private plane to party in Las Vegas, where they get married. This decision upsets his disapproving parents so much that they jet over from Russia to ensure he gets an annulment.
Source: Reuters
