LOS ANGELES: “Anora” was named the best film of the year by Hollywood’s directors and producers on Saturday, cementing its new status as the film to beat at the upcoming Oscars.
The black comedy from director Sean Baker, about an erotic dancer’s whirlwind romance gone wrong, picked up the prestigious Directors Guild of America and Producers Guild of America top awards, just a day after capturing the foremost US critics’ prize.
“My imposter syndrome is skyrocketing right now!” said Baker, a 53-year-old indie director, previously best known in arthouse circles for his empathetic portrayals of life in US subcultures, as he accepted his prize at a swanky Beverly Hills DGA gala.
Baker thanked his producers for being “able to pull off a $6 million film, shot on film, in New York City in 2023 — almost impossible.”
“Anora” won the Cannes film festival top prize Palme d’Or back in May, yet had more recently lagged behind other films including “Emilia Perez” in terms of Oscar nominations.
Besides Saturday’s coup, “Anora” also won best picture at the Critics Choice Awards on Friday, propelling it as a renewed favorite for the Academy Awards — which will take place on March 2.
Accepting his prize from Christoper Nolan, last year’s DGA winner, Baker joked that campaigning for Hollywood’s seemingly never-ending awards season had made him feel like he was “actually doing work” for “the first time.”
“I’ve been able to play — and I feel like the luckiest guy in the world, being able to do the thing I’ve wanted to do since I was five years old,” said Baker.
He also thanked his mother for supporting his career — but the director, whose films mainly center around sex work and pornography, admitted he was glad she had not seen his latest, somewhat graphic project.
Nineteen of the past 21 DGA winners have gone on to also win the Oscar for best director that same year, including the last two winners — “Oppenheimer” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
The DGA prize for best movie from a first-time filmmaker went to another Oscar best picture nominee, “Nickel Boys,” from RaMell Ross.
Ross, whose film about abuses at a 1960s Florida reform school for juvenile boys — shot as if from the eyes of its characters — said it was too “rare” to see the Black gaze represented in Hollywood cinema.
Meanwhile across town in Los Angeles Saturday, “Anora” also won the PGA top prize.
‘Anora’ wins top Hollywood producer and director prizes
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‘Anora’ wins top Hollywood producer and director prizes
- “Anora” was named the best film of the year by Hollywood’s directors and producers on Saturday, cementing its new status as the film to beat at the upcoming Oscars
ABC signs Jimmy Kimmel to a one-year contract extension, months after temporary suspension
President Donald Trump won’t be getting his wish. ABC said Monday it has signed late-night comic Jimmy Kimmel to a one-year contract extension.
Kimmel’s previous, multiyear contract had been set to expire next May, so the extension will keep him on the air until at least May 2027.
Kimmel’s future looked questionable in September, when ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for remarks made following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Following a public outcry, ABC lifted the suspension, and Kimmel returned to the air with much stronger ratings than he had before.
He continued his relentless joking at the president’s expense, leading Trump to urge the network to “get the bum off the air” in a social media post last month. The post followed Kimmel’s nearly 10-minute monologue on Trump and the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Kimmel was even on Trump’s mind Sunday as the president hosted the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington.
“I’ve watched some of the people that host,” Trump said. “I’ve watched some of the people that host. Jimmy Kimmel was horrible, and some of these people, if I can’t beat out Jimmy Kimmel in terms of talent, then I don’t think I should be president.”
Kimmel has hosted the Oscars four times, but he’s never hosted the Kennedy Center show.
Just last week, Kimmel was needling Trump on the president’s approval ratings. “There are gas stations on Yelp with higher approval ratings than Trump right now,” he said.
Kimmel will be staying longer than late-night colleague Stephen Colbert at CBS. The network announced this summer it was ending Colbert’s show next May for economic reasons, even though it is the top-rated network show in late-night television.
ABC has aired Kimmel’s late-night show since 2003, during a time of upheaval in the industry. Like much of broadcast television, late-night ratings are down. Viewers increasingly turn to watching monologues online the day after they appear.
Most of Kimmel’s recent renewals have been multiyear extensions. There was no immediate word on whose choice it was to extend his current contract by one year.
Following Kirk’s killing, Kimmel was criticized for saying that “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” The Nexstar and Sinclair television ownership groups said it would take Kimmel off the air, leading to ABC’s suspension.
When he returned to the air, Kimmel did not apologize for his remarks, but he said he did not intend to blame any specific group for Kirk’s assassination. He said “it was never my intention to make the light of the murder of a young man.”
