Sean Baker made Oscars history on Sunday by becoming the first person to win four Oscars in one night for the same movie. With “Anora,” a bittersweet dramedy about a Brooklyn stripper who becomes entangled with the wayward son of a Russian oligarch, Baker won awards for best picture, director, original screenplay and editing.
“Emilia Pérez” filmmaker Jacques Audiard was also in contention for this historic feat, as he ended up with nominations for directing, adapted screenplay, original song and best picture. When the Oscar nominations were announced Jan. 23, the producer credits for “Emilia Pérez” were among those announced as “nominees to be determined.” Audiard was ultimately recognized as one of the film’s eligible producers, boosting his nominations from three to four.
In 1954, Walt Disney won four awards in one night, but for four different films, including the feature documentary “The Living Desert” and three shorts. At the 2020 Oscars, Bong Joon Ho was photographed holding four Oscars, but technically only three of them were officially his. Bong’s film “Parasite” won for picture, director, original screenplay and international feature, but that last prize goes to the country, not to the filmmaker.
“Right now, the theatergoing experience is under threat,” Baker said, accepting the directing Oscar with an impassioned plea. “Movie theaters, especially independently owned theaters, are struggling, and it’s up to us to support them. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry: Filmmakers, keep making films for the big screen. I know I will. Distributors, please focus first and foremost on the theatrical releases of your films.”
The winners who have taken three Oscars for a single film in one night are James Cameron, Marvin Hamlisch, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Francis Ford Coppola, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Alejando González Iñarritu, James L. Brooks and Billy Wilder.
Warren Beatty is the only person to have been nominated for directing, producing, writing and acting in a single film — and he has done that twice, with “Heaven Can Wait” and “Reds.” Of those many nominations, he would win only for directing “Reds.”
Chloé Zhao and Alfonso Cuarón were recently each also personally nominated for four awards, both winning two. Zhao took home director and picture for “Nomadland,” losing adapted screenplay and editing, while Cuarón won director and cinematography for “Roma,” losing picture and original screenplay.
Baker’s impressive awards run with “Anora,” which also included wins from the DGA, PGA, WGA, Spirit Awards and Los Angeles Film Critics Assn., began with the Palme d’Or when the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year.
